The Ninth vizord
by dukefan01
Summary: This is a what if story, of what if Shuhei hadn't listened to Kensei and followed him anyway. Shuhei is now the ninth vizord and is in hiding with the others. How different would the story be if Shuhei was raised by the Visords and the Urahara shop gang instead of being trained by Tosen?
1. Prelude

**Hey ya'll. I know I got other things to be working on, but I started rereading Akame ga kill and I remembered I had been working on this story for a while. Honestly they have nothing to do with each other and I can't even remember how it reminded me to work on this, but it did. Anyway, you all know the line by now. I don't own bleach, yada yada, I claim no rights to anything yada yada, please support the official release yada yada. Also, if you like Shuhei you really should check out 'Can't fear your own world'. It's actually pretty interesting...at least to me.**

 **So the plot. Basically this is a what if story, a what if Shuhei had been turned into a vizored along with the others. Hope you enjoy!  
**

Shuhei stood frozen in shock as the Taichou's body slid off the blade and onto the ground where the other two shinigami's bodies lay. The blind man proceeded to step over the body and enter the tent that the Taichou had exited. Shuhei heard a man scream from inside the tent before a another muffled yell that sounded like the female of the group! Shuhei started breathing quicker and soon lost control of it's pace. He felt like he wasn't getting any oxygen into his lungs.

Being from the higher districts of the rukongai, Shuhei had seen people die before. After all it wasn't strange for a person to kill another for their belongings, or a drunken brawl or fight to get out of hand and end with a soul moving onto the cycle of rebirth. However in all of those instances Shuhei had not been remotely invested in the situation. The only people Shuhei had ever opened up to where Torahiko and Gyuji for that very reason. Now however these men who saved him and his two brother figures were slain, killed by one of their own men! Shuhei just couldn't believe it.

After he, Torahiko, and Gyuji arrived at their small home Shuhei realized the taichou and his men may not know about the souls vanishing in the area. If they didn't know they could easily be the next target of whatever monster was out prowling around. His brothers told him not to go, that the taichou and his men were plenty strong enough and the taichou would probably just yell at him anyway. Shuhei insisted however and told them he would return in a few hours. Now he wished he had done exactly what they told him to do.

Self preservation screamed at the boy to turn and run, to get as far away as he could from there. After all if someone as strong as the taichou was cut down then there was absolutely nothing a small boy like him could do to help. Shuhei took a hesitant step back. It didn't feel right to just abandon the man. After all he saved Shuhei's life only hours before. Shuhei made a decision to flee and get word to the Seiretei. The man was a taichou after all, his disappearance would be noticed and they would be looking for why. With that in mind, the boy turned to head back to the village as quickly as possible.

He crashed into a solid object that he was sure had not been there before. Shuhei landed on the ground on his back. He pushed himself up on his elbows, ready to get up and make a second attempt at running. However a foot came down on his chest, pinning him on his back. Shuhei looked up in shock to see the blind man who had gone into the tent! Shuhei couldn't understand how he was now standing over him. The man's face was turned toward him, as if thinking. "A child? One of the one's from this afternoon." he seemed to realize. Shuhei felt his breath catch. He had no fantasies about this man letting him go, after all he just cut down his own friends. A stranger would mean nothing to him. As if reading Shuhei's thoughts, the man drew a katana and brought it down, resting the tip on Shuhei's collarbone. "A shame it must end this way. You should have obeyed Muguruma-taichou." he said. Shuhei felt his eyes burn as tears formed. He didn't want to die, and he especially didn't want to die like this. He wanted to see his brothers, he wanted to be home!

"Wait Kaname." Shuhei turned his head slightly toward the direction the new voice came from. He could make out two blurry figures moving toward them. One was much bigger then the other and both were black blobs, telling Shuhei they were probably shinigami as well. The blind man moved back, taking his foot and katana away from Shuhei as he did. Shuhei sat up, wiping the tears out of his eyes with his hand to try and see the new arrivals better. One was a brown haired man with glasses. He had a badge tied to his left arm with a five on it. Next to him was a young boy with silver hair and his eyes squinted shut. The man seemed to radiate a feeling of danger and Shuhei was sure that whatever the man was planning was worse then simply dying.

The boy stopped a few feet away but the brown haired man continued to move forward. Shuhei leaned back, trying to create more space between him and the be speckled shinigami. He knelt down in front of Shuhei, reaching out to grab Shuhei's chin in one hand. Shuhei felt like he was hyperventilating. "It appears he has some reiatsu. It's not very high yet, but it may have been enough to attract that hollow you informed me of earlier." the man said. Shuhei knew he wasn't talking to him, but the blind man who had responded to the name Kaname. The brown haired man then released him and stood up, turning to face his companion. "It would be such a waste to simply kill him. I would be interested in seeing how the hollowification process would react to him." he said.

Shuhei had no idea what those words meant, and his instincts told him he didn't want to find out. At the moment neither of the men were paying attention to him. If he was going to escape, now was his best chance. Shuhei rolled over onto his front and pushed himself onto his feet before taking off in a dead sprint. He was fairly confident of his ability to run. After all if he wasn't fast he wouldn't be alive now since he wouldn't be able to get away from shopkeepers with food. Shuhei couldn't hear anyone pursuing him, but he wasn't about to look back to see either.

Suddenly however he was slammed into the ground. He yelled in surprise as his face met the dirt. His left arm was pulled across his back and a weight slammed onto him directly under that, holding him where he was. Shuhei turned his face to the side, wanting to see what was holding him down. A flash of light came directly across his face, then a blade planted into the dirt by his eyes. The right side of his face exploded in pain and the child screamed. It took him a second to realize he had been cut from his chin to his forehead. Blood flowed into his eye and he was forced to close it. "Did you forget about me?" a new voice said. The boy with silver hair! Shuhei had indeed forgotten about him! He tried to pull his arm free, needing to be away from this new threat, but the silver haired fox tightened his grip. "I wouldn't try that." he said.

"That was a little unnecessary Gin." Shuhei could hear the brunette say, but his tone wasn't scolding at all. Instead he sounded amused. Shuhei gritted his teeth and hissed as fresh tears came down his face, mixing with the blood. These men were just toying with him now. There was nothing left he could do. In despair the boy let out another scream. He could hear footsteps approaching him and could just make out a white jacket. It was the blind man. Shuhei closed his other eye, not wanting to watch what was about to happen. Then all he felt was pain.


	2. The question

Kensei woke up with a groan. He felt horrible and was ready to kill Tosen. At the reminder he immediately looked around, expecting to see the tent and the remains of two of his men. Instead he was on a futon in a small room. Kensei glared, confused. Where was he? Where was Mashiro and his men? He closed his eyes, trying to sense the area around him to see if it would give him any clue what was going on. He clenched a fist in frustration as he realized he wasn't getting anything. He couldn't feel much reishi at all, and even what he could sense was hard, as if he was searching through a filter. Kensei could only draw two conclusions. Either he was in a place with a low reishi content, like the land of the living, or he was wearing a gigai of some type. Neither of those were possible at the moment, so his confusion only grew. Kensei hated this feeling and was getting furious. However sitting in the bed was not going to answer any of his questions. He got up and headed to the door, intending to find out what was going on.

Kensei moved down the hall and focused on the reishi again. There was a higher concentration two doors down, so he decided to start there. He walked over and tore open the door. Inside he was Urahara Kisuke an Shihoin Yoruichi sitting at a table, looking at something that was obstructed from his view. This made even less sense then before. He was supposed to be out in the rukongai on a reconnaissance mission, so why was he in a house with the second and twelveth division taichous? "What the hell is going on here?" Kensei yelled, wanting answers and wanting them now. The two looked over at him.

"Your awake. That's good. You're actually the first one, but I guess that makes sense if you were the first one to be hollowified." Kisuke said. Kensei glared. That only raised more questions then answers.

"First of who? What is being hollowified? Where the hell is Mashiro and my men? For that matter where the hell are we and why are you two even hear?" Kensei was running out of patience.

"Clam down Kensei. The others are still sleeping. Mashiro is here as well. Same with Shinji, Love, Rose, Lisa, Hiyori, Hachi, Tessai, and this boy." Kisuke said gesturing to what they were looking at before. Kensei was still lost. Why were all those people even there. Tsukabishi Tessai and Ushoda Hachigen were the Kido corps taichou and fukutaichou. Kensei had only met either of them a handful of times and was not very familiar with them. He knew Shinji, Love, Rose, and Lisa well as drinking buddies, and of course Hiyori just came with the territory, being close to Shinji and all. He also had no idea who the 'boy' was. Kensei moved so the table was no longer blocking his view. Dread swam into his gut.

Lying on the ground with bandages around his head was the boy he had saved only hours ago. Like him the boy was wearing a white kimono and his features looked like they were twisted in pain. "What is he doing here? I told him to go home!" Kensei hissed. Kisuke and Yoruichi looked surprised and a little relieved.

"So you know him?" Yoruichi asked. Kensei frowned.

"Not really. I met him when me and my team headed out to investigate the disappearances. He and his friends were being attacked by a hollow. We saved him and I told him to get lost." Kensei said. Kisuke thought for a moment.

"Kensei, did anything happen while the boy was with you?" he asked. Kensei went to shake his head when a thought came to mind.

"Yeah actually. Mashiro found the remains of the advanced team." he said. Kisuke sighed, as if understanding something horrible.

"I see. Then either the boy didn't listen to you and returned on his own, or Tosen and Aizen were afraid of what the boy may tell others and hunted him down to silence him." he said. Kensei felt his anger explode all over again.

"WHAT?!" he screamed, causing Yoruichi to jump and glare at him for the volume. "What the hell do you mean hunted him down? And what the hell does Aizen even have to do with any of this?!" he yelled. Kisuke sighed again, only this one seemed to be of exasperation.

"If it is alright with you, I would like to wait until the others are awake to explain everything. This way we can understand what everyone knows." Kisuke said. Kensei glared and folded his arms. He didn't like the idea of waiting, but he figured Kisuke didn't want to have to explain whatever crazy story he had to nine times.

"Fine, but just tell me where the hell we are." he ordered. Kisuke nodded, after all that seemed like a fair request.

"We are in the land of the living, near Tokyo Japan." he said. The ninth taichou nodded, accepting that for now. Kisuke then glanced back at the child. "Now it's your turn. Do you know the name of this boy?" he asked. Kensei thought for a moment, trying to remember what the kid had said.

"Yeah. Hisagi Shuhei." he said.

xxxxxxx

Shuhei woke up with a start. he couldn't remember what happened. The last thing he remembered was the taichou saving his life and telling him to go home. He had indeed gone back home and then...nothing. His head started to hurt so he reached up to feel it. His hands met with bandages on his face. He hadn't even realized he wasn't using his right eye! Shuhei felt a panic, wondering what happened to his eye. Then everything came back to him. He brought his knees to his chest as he remembered being stabbed through the back before blacking out. Now he was in a strange room. He had no idea where he was or why he was there. Did the strange men take him somewhere to experiment on him or something? After all that was what it sounded like they wanted to do. Were they going to torture him?

Shuhei jumped at the sound of footsteps coming toward him. He quickly looked around the room. There was nothing he could use to defend himself! The door opened and a man with long blonde hair and a white kimono stood in the doorway. "Oh, you're finally awake. It's about time, your the last one." the man said. Shuhei didn't know who this man was, he had never seen him before. Was he with the other men? Was he hear to kill him? And what did he mean 'the last one'? Were there others they had captured too?

"W...who are...you? Are...are you with that...that fifth division shinigami?" Shuhei asked, terrified. The man seemed confused at that.

"Fifth division shinigami?" he asked. Shuhei nodded.

"The...the one with the badge." he said. The blonde man seemed to realize what Shuhei meant before his face darkened.

"Aizen? Hell no!" he snapped. Shuhei jumped at that. He didn't know who 'Aizen' was. The man's face turned into one of sympathy. "Sorry for yelling Shuhei. Come on, everyone is waiting." he said. Shuhei jumped to his feet, alarmed.

"How do you know my name?" the boy gasped, terrified. The man gave him another confused look. "I only told one person my name, and I watched him die." Shuhei said, elaborating on why the man should not know it. He seemed to realize something again.

"Oh, Kensei? He isn't dead kid." he said. Shuhei scowled. These names didn't mean anything to him. "Muguruma Kenei, the ninth taichou, the one who saved your life from a hollow." the man went on to say, realizing Shuhei may not have known the silver haired taichou's name. Shuhei felt a sense of relief at actually knowing the man's name now, but anger at the blonde for lying to him.

"You're lying. I watched him fall!" Shuhei insisted. The blonde opened his mouth to argue when the taichou who saved his life appeared behind him.

"You two are so loud, and don't kill me off just yet you brat!" Kensei barked at them. Shuhei was stunned. The taichou who saved him, Muguruma Kensei as he was called, was not standing right in front of him. He wasn't dead!

"You're...you're alive!" Shuhei gasped. The man nodded with an unamused look. Shuhei felt his legs give out.

"It seems he was there when you were attacked." the blonde man decided to explain. Kensei's expression softened.

"I see. Come on kid, the others want to see you." he said, then he turned and walked away. Shuhei waned to call out to him, to ask him to stay. Right now this man was the only familiar face, and he was a presence that told Shuhei everything would be alright. Shuhei pushed himself up on his shaky legs and ran after the man. He almost missed the amused look on the blonde man's face and heard the man follow him.

The three of them entered a new room and Shuhei looked around at each new face in confusion. Only one other face looked familiar, and even then it was a face he had only seen for a few seconds before. It was the green haired girl who had been with Kensei. "You're awake. That's good, we were starting to get worried." a man with short pale hair said. Shuhei looked up at Kensei wanting him to show him some sign that the man was to be trusted. Kensei looked a little confused for a second.

"I think he's looking to you for guidance Kensei." a woman with black hair and glasses said. Kensei turned to her in surprise.

"ME?" he asked. She nodded.

"You seem to be the only one here he is familiar with. It would probably help if we actually introduce ourselves to him." she said. The man who greeted him nodded.

"That sounds like a good idea. It's a pleasure to meet you Hisagi Shuhei, I am Urahara Kisuke, the former twelveth division taichou and Chief of the Department of Research and Development." he said. Shuhei tried not to look confused, but judging from the soft chuckles from a few of them he must have failed. Shuhei's knowledge of the Seiretei was very limited. He knew that the shinigami were soldiers and he knew there were divisions, but he didn't know how many there were. He also didn't know the other branches or organizations. His understanding of the structure was also limited to the fact there was a taichou who was in charge of a division, and their assistant the fukutaichou.

"Shuhei." a woman said, getting his attention. She had purple hair and a darker skin tone then the others. She also was the only one not in a white kimono, but in black clothes that made her resemble a ninja. "The shinigami work in various divisions and organizations. There are three main parts. There is the Onmitsukido, the Kido Corps, and the Gotie thirteen. The Gotie thirteen is made up of thirteen divisions, each one led by a taichou and their second in command a fukutaichou. After that there are twenty seated officers." she explained. Shuhei nodded to show he was following her. "Some division have something they specialize in. The twevlth division specializes in science, so they run the department of research and development." she explained. Shuhei felt that summarized to 'this is an important person' and nodded to show he understood.

"I am Shihoin Yoruichi and I was the second division taichou as well as the onmitsukido commander. My division specializes in special operations, assassination, and running the prisons. Because of that the second division and the onmitsukido are linked." she explained. Shuhei felt a twinge of fear from that, but it was her name that struck a cord with him. Even in the rukongai, there was a series of names every child is taught to be aware of. They were the five great noble houses. Shuhei knew those names well because it was pretty much a death sentence to offend one of them. "I was also the head of the Shihoin Clan, one of the great five noble houses, but it seems you are familiar with the name." she said. Shuhei gave a small nod.

"I am Tsukabishi Tessai, the former commander of the kido corps." said a large man. He had black hair and a black mustache. His hair was styled in a way that it resembled horns and his eyes were nearly concealed behind his glasses. Shuhei felt very intimidated by him and grabbed onto the nearest thing he could find, which happened to be Kensei's clothes. The man didn't seem to mind too much since he didn't pry Shuhei off.

"You just met me. I'm Hirako Shinji, I was the fifth division taichou." said the man with long blonde hair. He gave Shuhei a big toothy smile and Shuhei felt like that was more nerve inducing then relieving.

"You're scarring him baldy." a young woman with short blonde pigtails said, kicking Shinji in the side. She then turned to Shuhei, who moved even closer to Kensei's side. "I'm Sarugaki Hiyori. I was the twelveth fukutaichou." she hugged. Shuhei felt that she was very scary.

"Guess it's my turn then." said another large man with black hair. His hair was in an afro an he also had glasses on. "I'm Akinawa Love, the seventh taichou." he said. Shuhei felt that he was just as intimidating as Tessai, if that was even the large man's name. Hearing all these names was starting to confuse him.

"That's no way to introduce yourself." said a man with long blonde hair, only his hair was much wavier then the other blonde man's, Shinji if Shuhei was remembering that right. "I am Otoribashi Rose, and I am the musical taichou of the third." the man said, making dramatic movements with his arms. Shuhei looked up at Kensei, looking for some kind of guidance.

"Now you're making the kid nervous." Love said, elbowing Rose in the back of the head. Rose turned and glared at him.

"That was rude Love, I hadn't even had a chance to explain anything about the third division!" he whined.

"That's enough." said the woman with glasses, glaring at the two. Then she turned to Shuhei. "My name is Yadomaru Lisa. I was the eighth fukutaichou." she said. Shuhei was a little intrigued. So far there were only two fukutaichous. The rest had been taichous. Lisa then looked at the green haired girl who was sitting on a chair, kicking her feet at nothing. The girl looked surprised, then smiled.

"Me? I'm Kuna Mashiro. I was Kensei's fukutaichou." she sang. Shuhei felt she may be hard to be around as well. In fact all of these people seemed to have a strange personality quirk about them. Then a large man with pink hair stood up and bowed.

"It seems I am the last. I am Ushido Hachigen. I was Tessai's fukutaichou." he said. Shuhei tried to remember what one Tessai was associated with. He thought it was the kido corps, but it could have been the fifth division. Shuhei offered a small bow in response.

"Fine, now that all the introductions are out of the way, spill it. What the hell happened?" Kensei barked out, making Shuhei jump from the unexpected volume. Suddenly the room's atmosphere changed. The carefree looks were gone, replaced with looks full of tension and concern.

xxx

Kensei sat down at the table, Shuhei sitting as close to him as he could. Kensei knew that Lisa said it was because he was scared, but he wouldn't put up with it for much longer.

"Yes, Kensei, I think you should go first." Kisuke said. The others all looked at him and Kensei sighed.

"We were told to investigate the disappearances in the rukongai. I sent out an advanced party of ten men, then followed with Mashiro, Kasaki Heizo, Eishima Shinobu, Todo Izaemon, and Tosen Kaname." he started. He felt the boy next to him flinch and he looked down. Shuhei actually looked afraid. He looked back at the others. "We were investigating when we heard a scream. It turns out this kid and two boys with him were being attacked by a hollow." Kensei said. The others all turned to Shuhei and the boy stiffened.

"Shuhei, what happened with the hollow?" Lisa asked. Shuhei looked down, recalling what the man with glasses had said.

"We were trying to get some food when that monster suddenly attacked us. The man with glasses said it was my fault." the boy said slowly. Kensei scowled, as did the others.

"Aizen said it was your fault?" Shinji asked, sounding horrified.

"It seems he had a small level of reiatsu at the time. It attracted the hollow to him and his friends." Kisuke inferred. Kensei wanted to smack the scientist. It may be true that didn't mean you just say that in front of the boy. He was a child for Christ's sake! Yoruichi seemed to be thinking the same thing because she rapped her knuckles on the back of his skull.

"Anyway, we killed the hollow and were checking on the kids when Mashiro found the uniforms from our advanced team. They only thing I could figure out was that their bodies disintegrated. We decided to set up camp for the night to investigate. I sent a request for personnel from the twelveth division to investigate. We told the kids to go home and set up camp." Kensei said. The others nodded.

"Shuhei, did you go home like Kensei told you too?" Hachi asked. The boy nodded.

"I did, but then I remembered people were disappearing and I wanted to warn him, so I went back." he said softly. Kensei was furious all over again.

"You idiot! I told you to go home **_because_** people were disappearing." he snapped. He felt Shuhei flinch and grab onto his clothes again.

"Now now Kensei, it's not his fault. Besides after what he had overheard there's no saying that he wouldn't have been involved." Kisuke said, defending the child. Kensei felt his anger lessen. That was true. After all if Shuhei had heard some damning evidence of Tosen betraying the Seiretei then he may have hunted down the child after wards.

"After night fell Tosen attacked us. He killed two of my men and attacked me. That's all I remember." Kensei said. Kisuke nodded.

"He killed the three men." Shuhei said. Kensei looked down at him in surprise.

"What?" he growled. He had already made that assumption since only Mashiro was there, but he didn't like how sure the boy sounded as he said that.

"I had just gotten there to warn you what was going on when I saw him kill the two men outside and attack you. After he went into the tent and killed the man in there and attacked her." Shuhei said, looking at Mashiro. The rest of the group were horrified. Kensei couldn't believe it. This kid had to watch that! "I tried to run away, but he found me. Then the guy with glasses and a boy with silver hair showed up and..." Shuhei broke off. Kensei assumed whatever happened next would explain the bandages around the child's head.

"I see. Ichimaru Gin too." Shinji said. Shuhei flinched again. Kensei realized that Gin and Tosen had both done something to the child. If he had to guess it was Gin who wounded his eye, since Tosen seemed to be the one who hunted him down.

"Did Gin hurt your eye?" Hachi asked. Kensei realized he wasn't the only one who drew that conclusion. Shuhei clenched Kensei's clothes tighter still, his knuckles turning white. He gave a small nod.

"When we figure this all out will you heal him Hachi?" Rose asked. Hachi actually looked offended.

"Of course I would. I wish one of you had told me before so I could have healed his eye before he woke." Hachi said.

"So they attacked the kid too. Now what do you all know, because after this we're clueless." Kensei hissed, wanting to get back on topic. The others nodded.

"Well, at that time I had already sent out Hiyori to you. Then your reiatsu disappeared. The entire seiretei was put on high alert." Kisuke said.

"Old man Yamamoto wanted to send out a team to see what happened." Love said.

"He means the first taichou, the soutaichou." Lisa said, looking toward Shuhei.

"Kisuke waned to go to check on Hiyori, but he refused. He decided on me, Love, Rose, Hachi, and Tessai over there. However Shunsui, the eighth taichou Shuhei, asked to send Lisa in Tessai's place. So we were sent out to see what happened. When we got there Hiyori was being attacked by you Kensei." Shinji said. Kensei felt his insides twist. He hasn't attacked his friends!

"You weren't you though." Hiyroi said before Kensei could speak, and now Kensei was confused.

"What the hell does that mean?" he hissed. Kisuke actually looked at Shuhei!

"Shuhei, before they did anything, did Aizen say anything? He was the man with glasses." Shuhei looked down for a moment, trying to remember what the man had said.

"He said...something about hollows." the boy said. Kisuke nodded.

"I see. Aizen had apparently been planning on betraying the Soul Society for some time now. Tosen and Ichimaru are working for him as well. Apparently they have been doing human experiments to gain knowledge about hollowification." Kisuke said. Kensei and the others scowled.

"Hollowification?" Hiyori spat. Kisuke nodded.

"Yes. It's a process that was banned from research. The idea is to inject a hollow soul into a shinigami soul. The two souls would mix by braking down the barriers between them, creating a new stronger soul." Kisuke said. The others actually turned white.

"Thats..." Lisa started, at a loss for words.

"However the process was banned because it cannot be stopped. Once the boundaries between the souls dissolves the process continues, dissolving the boundaries between the soul and the outer world. The stress becomes too much on the soul and the soul collapses and dies." Kisuke said.

"So those people who vanished...their souls fell apart?" Mashiro asked. Kisuke nodded.

"That's one way of putting it." he confirmed.

"That's disgusting!" Love snapped. Kisuke nodded in agreement.

"So your saying..." Kensei was sure he knew what they meant now, but he didn't want to say it. If not for him and Mashiro, but for the kid's sake.

"Tosen injected the three of you with a virus to cause hollowification. When the others found you the process had already been going on for quite some time. You were behaving like a hollow." Kisuke said. Kensei felt his face flush. This didn't make any sense!

"We were able to restrain you, but then Mashiro and Shuhei attacked us." Shinji said. Kensei could see all the color drain from the two named individual's faces. "It gave the virus enough time to spread to us. We all went down. Aizen then came out of hiding to finish us off with Tosen and Gin." Shinji hissed. His voice was dark, full of hate and anger.

"I was worried about Hiyori and the rest of you, so I was coming out to see myself. Tessai came with me and we arrived in time to stop Aizen from killing you. He, Tosen, and Ichimaru left when we arrived. In order to try and save all of you Tessai used forbidden time and teleportation kido. I had been working on a substance called the Hogyoku. I thought it may be able to reverse the effects of hollowification." Kisuke said.

"That's all I know about this, so did it work?" Shinji asked. Kisuke looked down. That was answer enough as far as Kensei was concerned.

"I was able to stabilize your condition, not reverse it." he said.

"What the hell does that mean Kisuke?" Love yelled. Kisuke looked so frustrated as well.

"It means that your not going to die, but now you each have a hollow living in your souls." Kisuke said. Kensei froze.

"What?" he asked, thinking he misheard. He glanced down at Shuhei, who was looking between them all, confused and terrified. Kisuke sighed.

"All nine of you, including Shuhei, have a hollow that is now in your souls." he repeated. Kensei was about to stand up, to hit something, but Lisa held up a hand to make him wait.

"There's more to this story isn't there? After all we still don't know how Yoruichi plays into all this." she said. Kensei had completely forgotten that detail.

"Yes, I suppose this story isn't going to get any better either." Rose said, a tone of bitterness to it.

"No, it isn't. Aizen turned us over to Central forty six. We were all arrested." Kisuke said. Yoruichi looked over all of them.

"Aizen told Central forty-six that Kisuke was conducting human experiments. Tessai was sentenced to the underground prison for using forbidden kido. Kisuke was sentenced to banishment in the land of the living. As for the rest of you, they decided to have all of you executed as hollows." she said. The room was quiet as they all took in that information. Hachi looked at the ground in thought. Lisa's knuckles whitened as she clenched her fists. Rose looked at Yoruichi, horrified. Mashiro kicked the ground, splintering the wood. Shinji ground his teeth together. Love slammed a fist into the floor. Hiyori screamed at Kisuke in a rage. Kensei pulled Shuhei's hands off his clothes to stand and walked over to the wall, where he put his fist through it.

How dare those men sentence a group of people who did nothing wrong to execution. Not only that but one of them was an innocent child! He couldn't understand why this was even happening. The pain in his hand was telling him that it was indeed reality and not a dream. He turned back to the others and he could see Shuhei and Mashiro were the only ones staring at him.

"When I heard about what happened I broke into the central forty-six chambers. I removed the nine of you before going back for Kisuke and Tessai. After that I brought you all to the Land of the Living through my families private senkimon." Yoruichi wen on.

"When we arrived I made ten reishi concealing gigai's." Kisuke said. Lisa and Hachi both gave him confused looks.

"Ten?" Lisa asked.

"When there is Twelve individuals?" Hachi elaborated. Kisuke nodded.

"Yes. Yoruichi is technically not on the run, so there was no need to make one for her. Shuhei is unknown to the Seiretei. They have no idea what his reiatsu is like. These gigai's will block all reiatsu coming from your souls. It will create a tax on the body. None of your bodies will change while in these gigai's. I didn't want to put that kind of tax on a soul if I did not have to." he explained. Kensei nodded as he looked over them. In summery Hiyori would probably look like a ten year old girl as long as they had to remain in these gigai's, and since they had no idea what the future held Kisuke wanted to give Shuhei the chance to grow up.

"So what now?" Rose asked. Kisuke gave them a sad smile.

"That's the question isn't it?" he asked.


	3. Of cooking and training

Shuhei laid on the futon in the small room that was functioning as a bedroom. After the meeting nearly a week ago Hachi had pulled him aside to use a healing kido on his eye. The cut was healed and Shuhei could see out of the eye, however there was a long scar down the side of his face. Hachi had apologized to Shuhei about it, but Shuhei told him it wasn't his fault. Now every time he looked in a mirror though, he could see the evidence that all of this wasn't a dream. He was no longer able to go home, and he would probably never get to see his brothers again.

In the last week Shuhei hardly ever saw any of the others. The house they were currently in was one Yoruichi had found that had been vacant. It didn't have a large number of rooms. Lisa, Hiyori, Mashiro, and Yoruichi were sharing a room; Love, Rose, and Hachi shared another room; Tessai and Kisuke had their own room; and Shuhei shared one with Kensei and Shinji. Neither male really talked to him, and both were usually up and out of the room before Shuhei even woke up. Kensei would call them all for food twice a day, but most of them just grabbed it and went back to their rooms.

Shuhei understood that they were all suffering. After all they just had their entire lives ripped out from under them. The careers they built and all the sacrifices they made to get where they were had just been for nothing. The worst part of it was the cause of that was a person they had all thought they could trust. Shuhei couldn't even imagine what it would feel like if one of his brothers had tried to kill him.

Shuhei wanted to do something to try and help them, but he didn't know what. He didn't have a gigai like they did, so he couldn't go out and buy them something. He didn't have any money anyway. There wasn't much to do around the home they currently lived in. Shuhei figured he might be able to make them a meal to try and help, but he had never cooked a day in his life. All his meals had just been bread he had stolen from street vendors along with whatever cooked meat he could grab. Fruits and vegetables were easy as he could just get them from trees and the gardens.

Deciding it was worth a shot, Shuhei headed down to the kitchen. He sifted through the cupboards to find something to make them. There was a bag of rice and some vegetables. Shuhei didn't know much about how to make them so he decided to put them both in a pot. If he did then it would be soup! With a confident look Shuhei grabbed the bag of rice and lifted. He gasped as the heavy bag didn't move. He scowled at the bag, as if it was the bag's fault he couldn't lift it. Changing tactics, Shuhei grabbed the top of the bag and pulled toward him. The bag slid to the edge of the shelf. Shuhei pulled a second time, pulling the bag free. The boy and the bag both toppled to the ground, spilling a large amount of rice over the floor. Shuhei quickly sat up and righted the bag, saving as much of the rice he could. He looked around the kitchen, wincing at the mess of rice. He figured he could clean it up after he finished cooking.

The bag was much lighter now, allowing Shuhei to carry it over to the stove and set it down beside it. Then Shuhei went back for the various vegetables. He didn't really know the names of some of them, but a few he did. There were carrots and onions, a leafy plant he never really knew he could eat before (cabage), red spheres (tomatoes), and yellow cylinders (corn). Shuhei figured he could just throw them all into the pot.

Now that all the ingredients were moved to where Shuhei could easier access them, he figured it was time to start cooking. He turned to the cookware, finding a large pot. He carried the heavy item to the stove and shoved it on top. Now he needed to put water in it. Shuhei knew he wouldn't be able to carry that pot full of water, so he filled up cups and moved the water into the pot. Then he dropped in the vegetables and poured in the rice. Now he needed to heat it so it could be soup!

Shuhei stared at the stove, wondering how to get it started. There was a small door on the bottom of the stove. He opened it to see ashes inside. He recalled Love and Rose carrying wooden logs into the kitchen. Shuhei went outside and looked around. Sure enough he found a stack of wood. He ran over to grab one off the top. It was heavy, but he could manage. Shuhei carried the log into the kitchen and shoved it into the stove. Seeing that there was still room, he went to get a second log. After that he got a third and final log.

Shuhei went back to staring at the stove, wondering just what he should do next. He knew he had to light the wood, but he wasn't sure how. He went to the drawers and looked around, finding a book of matches. Deciding that they would work he ran back to the open stove. He pulled the first match free of the book and pulled it across the abrasive surface. Nothing happened. Shuhei tried a second time, but still nothing happened. He tried a third time, pushing down harder on the match. The match broke in two. Shuhei scowled and pulled a second match free of the book. He pulled it across the surface, nothing happened. He tried again, this time the match lit. Shuhei stood smiling in triumph, he had done it. Suddenly his finger tips screamed in protest as the fire touched them. With a startled gasp Shuhei dropped the match and watched it burn out. He pulled a third match free of the book and tried again. When it lit he threw it onto the wood in the stove. Nothing happened. The match simply burned out. Shuhei wanted to scream in frustration. He looked around the kitchen and saw a stack of papers. Paper burned. He grabbed a small number of them and put them in the stove over the wood. Shuhei lit a fourth match and threw it on the paper. The paper caught.

Shuhei finally got the fire to burn and closed the door. He pulled up a chair to watch the soup and see when it got hot enough to serve to the others. It took a long time before Shuhei could see the bubbles come up between the floating vegetables. Deciding that the soup was done Shuhei went to pull the pot off the stove. He grabbed a nearby rag and grabbed the handle. He lifted the pot but it was too heavy. Shuhei dropped it back to the stove surface and boiling water splashed up onto his hand.

Shuhei screamed in pain and surprise as the hot water splashed onto his hand. He immediately covered the burn with his other hand and pulled both to his chest, as if keeping pressure on it would make the pain go away. He looked at the pot as if it betrayed him.

xxxxx

"Alright, this is getting us nowhere." Shinji announced as he walked into the living room. Lisa was sitting in a corner, flipping through a book. Love and Rose were just sitting in silence. Mashiro was trying to mess with Kensei, and he kept shoving her away. Yoruichi was sitting by Kisuke and Tessai, looking lost in thought. Hachi had been fiddling with kido as Hiyori watched. They all turned to him now.

"What do you suppose we do?" Lisa asked, curious. Shinji scowled.

"We're going to make Aizen an the others pay that's what." he announced. Love folded his arms.

"We'd love to, but in case you forgot we were sentenced to death so we can't exactly waltz into the Seiretei. Not only that but last time I checked every time we try to use our reiatsu those hollows in our bodies try to take over." he said.

"Then we'll beat those hollows into submission, force them to obey us." Kensei hissed. The others looked at him in a little surprise, but Mashiro nodded with the same determination. Tosen had killed their subordinates. They wanted blood.

"How do you plan to do that?" Hachi asked. It wasn't condescending, more curious then anything. The others looked thoughtful for a moment. Then they alll turned to Kisuke. The man looked at the ground, as if trying to puzzle out this problem.

"I wonder if we can approach this like bankai training." he mused. Shinji just nodded.

"It's worth a try." he said. Yoruichi nodded.

"That in itself is well enough, but don't forget you eight aren't the only ones. Shuhei is in the same position as all of you. Rather Shuhei is in a worse situation." she said. Rose gave her a confused look.

"What do you mean?" he asked. In truth most of them hadn't paid the child much attention at all. They hadn't even really thought about it.

"I mean he isn't a soldier like SoiFon or Nanao. He is just a child. He had no idea what is going on an is lost right now. We can't let him go live among the humans because they will notice that he doesn't age. We can't send him back to the Soul Society either, not when we run the risk of his hollow gaining control of his body, or him accidentally letting it slip that we are alive. Even if we could assure that the two wouldn't happen, Aizen and the others may recognize him. That scar can be a dead give away and they would kill him on sight." Yoruichi said. The others fell quiet.

They had been thinking of Shuhei like one of the child shinigami's. None of them had been around any children in a few decades who weren't being trained to be soldiers. It wasn't fair to force such a life on a child either. Shuhei wouldn't even know the first thing about bouncing back from something like this.

"Then he'll stay with us. We'll teach him to control the hollow and make sure he stays out of trouble." Hiyori said. Kisuke nodded.

"And if he decides he wants to fight with you?" he asked. Shinji shrugged.

"Then he can." he said simply. Kisuke pulled out a fan and hid his face behind it.

"I see." he said. He wondered if they really would let Shuhei fight. Right now he was just some kid they picked up off the streets a week ago. They had no real attachment to him, just some adults watching a small child for now. however would that thought process remain after a decade or two of raising him? Kisuke decided to keep that thought quiet.

Suddenly a loud shout came through the house. The group all looked at each other in alarm, only one person was missing, therefor that scream could only come from Shuhei. Kensei and Shinji, who were closest to the door, ran down the hall trying to figure out what was going on.

xxxx

"What the hell happened?" Kensei yelled as he pulled open the kitchen door. Shinji came up behind him and the two looked around the kitchen. Shuhei stood next to the stove, cradling his hand. Rice was spilled all over the floor and a boiling pot was over the fire. It appeared Shuhei was trying to cook and got burned on either the pot or the boiling water.

Kensei walked over to Shuhei, grabbing him by his upper arms and moving him away from the stove. Shinji went to the stove and removed the pot. Looking at it's contents he tried not to laugh. Uncooked rice sat at the bottom, a head of cabbage, some cobs of corn, and whole onions, tomatoes, and carrots floated around.

"Give me your hand." Kensei said. Shuhei looked away and twisted his upper body a bit to limit Kensei's access to his hand.

"It's fine." he said quickly. Kensei glared at him.

"Give me your hand kid." he repeated. Shuhei hesitated a second longer, but one look at the stern glare from Kensei made him unfold his hands and hold out the burned one for Kensei to look at. Kensei grabbed his wrist and pulled his hand up to get a better look. It was red, defiantly irritated, but other than that he wasn't hurt too bad. "Your fine." he decided.

"I said that." Shuhei mumbled. Kensei released him to fold his arms over his chest.

"What the hell were you doing in here?" he asked. Shuhei looked at the rice covered floor, wishing now that he had prioritized cleaning it.

"It seems he was trying to make us dinner." Shinji said, fishing the vegetables out of the boiling water with a spoon. Kensei was mildly surprised. He looked back at Shuhei, and unspoken question of why. Shuhei shifted nervously again.

"I just...wanted to help." he said. Both Kensei and Shinji looked at each other. They didn't know what they had been expecting, but that was not it. There was no reason a child should feel bad about a bunch of adults being upset and trying to make them feel batter. It should have been the other way around. Kensei sighed.

"Shinji, finish making the rice, we're not wasting anything." he ordered. He then went over to the cupboard and pulled out a board, a knife, and a bowl. He carried them to the table, and realizing what he was doing Shinji handed him a plate with the soggy vegetables. "Shuhei, come here." he said. The boy ran over to his side, curious. Kensei place the knife in his unburned hand and moved Shuhei so that he was directly in front of him. He guided both of Shuhei's hands to cut the first carrot. When it was cut into pieces he put them into the bowl and put a second carrot on the board. He let go of Shuhei and the child looked up at him for a moment before realizing that he was supposed to cut it by himself.

Kensei and Shuhei carefully cut up the carrots, onions, and tomatoes. Kensei then helped Shuhei pull apart the cabbage and tear it to pieces before taking the kernels off the corn cobs. When Shinji finished with the rice they put the cut vegetables into the pot along with a few things of Kensei's contribution. "It's not the best, but for your first time cooking it's not bad." Kensei said. Shuhei looked up at him with a smile. "Look kid, if you want to cook just ask. You can help me when I cook if you really want to." he said. Shuhei's face lit up.

"Really?" he asked. Kensei nodded, then he gave the boy a mischievous smirk.

"But cleaning is part of cooking, and this time you're going to clean the kitchen by yourself." he said. Shinji burst out laughing.


	4. Reading with Lisa

Lisa, Mashiro, and Shuhei started walking back toward their home, each carrying different bags of supplies. Kisuke and Tessai were both gone, Yoruichi saying they wore working on a project before she too disappeared. For now it was just the eight of them. Lisa had decided they needed to go on a shopping trip for supplies and Mashiro volunteered to come as well. Rose had suggested they take along Shuhei as well, resulting in the current situation. Shuhei looked at the bag he was carrying, wondering why Lisa had to buy so many books as well as food and clothes.

As a group they decided That they as a group needed better clothes. The clothing in the Land of the Living was very different. Shuhei heard the word 'western' used, but he wasn't sure what that meant. Now they all had pants and shirts, or in the case of the girls different dresses in addition to the pants. Shuhei had picked out a green shirt. Shinji had even cut off most of his hair, keeping it around his jaw.

"What is it?" Lisa asked him, seeing the thoughtful look on the boys face. Shuhei looked up at her, then back at the books. He always saw Lisa reading, and he wondered what was so good about these books anyway. They were just paper with ink scribbled across them. Mashiro followed his line of sight.

"Are the books too heavy Shu-chan?" she asked. Shuhei looked up at her in horror.

"No!" he said quickly. In the last week since Shuhei had started cooking with Kensei, he had seen the others start to interact more and more. It became apparent that strength was valued by them and Shuhei didn't want them to see him as a weak child.

"It's alright if they are Shuhei, one of us will just carry them." Lisa said. She smiled a little at the boy. He seemed to be just as stubborn to be viewed as an adult like Nanao was. However besides that and the black hair, he seemed to have nothing else in common with the young shinigami. Lisa thought about how she must be doing back at the eighth.

"It's not that." Shuhei said. Lisa raised an eyebrow. So it was something else.

"Then what is it?" she asked. Shuhei looked back at the books.

"I was...just wondering...why you like them..." the boy trailed off. Lisa raised her eyebrow even further. That seemed like an odd idea to her, to not like books.

"Do you not?" she asked. Shuhei winced, like he didn't want to admit something to her, then Lisa realized something. It wasn't that Shuhei didn't like them, it's that he had no use for books. Children in the rukongan rarely have the luxury to be able to read, and in the higher districts it may be hard pressed to find even an adult who could read. Being able to read was like a sign of status in the rukongai. It was something that you had to have the time to learn and the access to have. "You can't read can you Shuhei?" she asked. The boy turned bright red.

"No." he admitted. Lisa stopped and turned to him.

"Would you like to?" she asked. He gave her a confused look. "We don't have much else to do right now until Urahara returns. If you wan I can find a children's book and we can work on reading together." she offered. Shuhei's whole face lit up. To be honest he never considered getting to learn how to read before. Not only that but until Kensei offered to let him cook with him an learn how to, Shuhei had never had anyone offer to teach him anything. To do so would imply he held some kind of worth to them. In the rukongai it was every person for themselves. Lisa smiled. "Alright, we'll start when we get back." she agreed.

xxx

The three entered the house to see Love, Rose, Kensei, Shinji, Hiyori, Kisuke, and Tessai talking in the main room. "Good, your back. Kisuke says he has something to show us." Shinji said. Lisa and Mashiro nodded but Shuhei looked up at Lisa in worry. If the two were back, then that meant she may not be teaching him to read after all. She did say they could work on reading until they returned after all. Kisuke led them toward one of the back rooms. There was a new door in the floor! Kisuke opened it.

"After you." he said in a playful tone. Tessai jumped down first. With an untrusting look, Shinji jumped next. Hiyori followed, then Love and Rose. Hachi went after them, then Mashiro and Kensei. Lisa looked over at Shuhei.

"Kensei!" she called down the hole after a second. He was the last one to jump.

"Yeah?!" his voice yelled up. It was a little bit of a drop if his voice was to go by.

"I'm going to drop Shuhei down." she called. Kisuke suddenly seemed to recall the boy as well.

"Hmm...maybe I should install a ladder in the near future." he mused. Lisa scowled at him.

"Go ahead, I'll catch him!" Kensei's voice floated up. Lisa looked at Shuhei and gestured to the hole. He gave both her and Kisuke a worried look.

"It's alright, they'll catch you." Lisa said. Shuhei looked down the hole again. He was trusting Kensei wouldn't let him get hurt. Shuhei jumped. He gasped as he fell, seeing a huge well lit cavern that now existed under their home. He closed his eyes, too afraid of what what would happen. A pair of arms caught him.

"You alright these kid?" he opened his eyes to see Kensei had indeed caught him. He nodded as Kensei put him down. Moments later Lisa landed gracefully next to him before Kisuke did as well. Shuhei looked up. The hole that led them down there was a long way up.

"What is this Kisuke?" Shinji asked in awe. Shuhei was wondering the same thing. It was massive, but there wasn't really anything around.

"Tessai and myself created this. It is reinforced with Kido to keep the cavern from collapsing or being detected. Simply put this is a training grounds that you can all use to control your hollows." Kisuke said. Shuhei gave him a confused look and the others realized they had never actually talked to Shuhei about all this.

"What do you mean?" Shuhei asked. Love looked down at him, his arms folded across his chest.

"The hollows that are in all of our souls can one day take control of our bodies and kill everyone. However to try and keep that from happening we're going to train and make those hollows obey us." he said. Shuhei gave him a terrified look.

"Don't worry Shu-chan, that's not going to happen." said Mashiro with a smile.

"Oh, I have also recovered all of your zanpakutos!" Kisuke added, showing the pile of weapons. Shuhei looked at all eight in awe. Shinji walked over and ruffled the boys hair as he reached for his.

"Well, no time like the present." he said, drawing the blade.

"Sounds like fun." Kensei agreed, moving forward to grab his. Shuhei stepped back, wondering if they were planing on fighting. He'd love to watch them spar to see what they were like, but a hand grabbed his arm an started pulling him back. He looked up to see Lisa was taking him towards the trap door.

"Wha..." he started. She smiled down at him.

"We don't need to be here while they spar. We can start teaching you how to read." she said. Truthfully Lisa had no idea what would happen when they started to train, but she did know it wasn't a good idea to have Shuhei see it. If they lost control they could accidentally hurt him, and even if they didn't it could terrify him. Rather do something productive while the former taichou's tried to figure out what to do.

"Okay Nee-san." Shuhei said. Lisa paused and gave him an odd look.

"Nee-san?" she asked, curious. Shuhei turned red.

"Uhm...Mashiro-neesan said I should start calling all of you neesan and niisan." he said, then she looked up at her, worried. "I'm sorry I won't do it..." he started.

"No, it's fine Shuhei. You can call me neesan." she said. Shuhei smiled. He really was nothing like Nanao.

xxxx

"You're doing good Shuhei." Lisa praised. They had been at it for nearly an hour now. Shuehi smiled.

"This is a good book." he said, as if saying that his improvement was only due to it being an interesting book.

"I thought you might like it. It was Nanao's favorite." she said. Shuhei gave her a curious look.

"Who is Nanao?" he asked. Lisa smiled. She figured there was no harm in telling him.

"She is a shinigami in the eighth division. She's about your age." she said. Shuhei looked amazed.

"There's shinigami my age?" he asked. She nodded.

"Yes. They aren't overly common, but they occur. If someone wants to join the Gotie thirteen and are able to get accepted, then it doesn't matter what their age is. Nanao was a sweet quiet girl. I read to her on the first of every month." she said. Shuhei looked at her in awe. "She was the closest thing I ever had to a little sister. I'm not entirely sure what her background is, but I know she is from the Ise Clan. It's a clan for priestesses. She went to the Shino Academy and requested the first division but the taichou requested she be moved to the eighth. Maybe it's just because she was a girl." Lisa chucked.

"Because she's a girl?" Shuhei asked. Lisa nodded.

"Kyoraku is a bit of a womanizer. He even made a flyer once for recruitment to the division saying that only women were welcome." she laughed. Shuhei seemed a little confused like that.

"So you don't have any siblings?" he asked. Lisa shook her head.

"No. I think Shihoin had a brother, and Mashiro has a little sister in the twelveth division. She worked in the Department of Research and Development with Hiyori under Urahara, but that's about it." she said. She saw Shuhei's face fall. "Do you?" she asked.

"Not really. I mean I have two brothers but they aren't really my brothers. They just found me and started taking care of me. Torahiko and Gyuji." Shuhei said. Lisa nodded.

"Well, that seems to be what we are doing, so I believe it counts." she said. Shuhei looked back at the book, ready to continue. Suddenly a loud hollow scream ripped through the air. Lisa and Shuhei both stiffened.

"What was that?" Shuhei asked, alarmed. Lisa looked back at the book.

"Shuhei I want you to try and read this page on your own. I'll be back in a minute and I expect you to summarize what you read upon my return." she ordered. Shuhei could see how she was in charge of people now. Lisa then stood up and headed back to the training grounds.

xxxx

Hachi and Tessai both panted heavily from the effort of using high level bakudo to restrain the two taichou class men. They were doing good for a while, then they suddenly lost control. The hollows took over their bodies and they began attacking those watching. Lisa arrived beside a worried looking Hiyori and Mashiro. "What happened?" she asked. The two girls looked at her, unsure of how to answer just yet.

"Everything is under control. We just need to wait until they revert back to normal." Kisuke said. The others all looked uneasy at that. If this was under control Lisa didn't want to know what not being in control was. "Getting the first one to control their hollow is going to be the hardest. It will most likely get easier as we go along. Shuhei will probably be the easiest since he'll be last." Kisuke said.

The others turned back to Kisuke and Shinji who were still pinned to the ground. "I suppose this is it for the day." Love said. Lisa nodded.

"I'm going back upstairs, keep me updated." she said. The others nodded and watched her leave.

xxx

"Are they ok?" Lisa hadn't even had a chance to sit down. She nodded.

"Everyone is fine. Now what did you read?" she asked. Shuhei looked down.

"Please don't lie to me. I know something happened." he said. Lisa sighed.

"I'm not lying to you Shuhei. They really are fine. Things just didn't go as they wanted them to. It'll work out though." she said. Shuhei nodded.

"I just want to help." he said. Lisa smiled.

"I know. You are helping. The best way you can help us now is by growing, learning, and improving. So why don't you start by telling me what you read while I was gone." she said. Shuhei nodded and looked back at the book.


	5. Music and Progress

Shinji sat out of the back porch. In the last six months they had made almost no progress in getting those hollows under control and he was loosing patience. They were no closer now to getting their revenge then they were when Aizen cut them down and left them for dead. A laughter caught his attention and he looked up to see Mashiro run by, wearing the new yellow clothing she had insisted on buying when they went shopping. A few months ago Kisuke told them they would have to make an effort to not stand out. Shinji had cut his hair, most of them found more appropriate ways to style their hair, and they bought whole new wardrobes. Most of Mashiro's clothes made him wince.

"You'll never catch me if you stay that slow!" she taunted over her shoulder. A few seconds later Shuhei ran around the corner of the building, looking tired. He slowed to a walk and moved to stand by Shinji.

"Done playing tag already?" Shinji taunted. He liked having Shuhei around. If nothing else he kept Mashiro busy when she was having her tantrums. According to Lisa and Kensei he was also a fast learner. He enjoyed cooking and reading, and Lisa said he even starting writing some things on his own. They weren't overly good, but he was still a child so no one ever said so.

"She took my book." Shuhei huffed. Shinji chuckled. That sounded like Mashiro. He went to say something else when the door behind them opened. Both the boy and former taichou turned to see Rose exiting the building, an instrument in hand.

"What is that?" Shinji nearly groaned. He liked it when Rose played music, and the man had a talent for almost learning every instrument he found perfectly. However they didn't have a lot of money so the chances where high that the man had spent a decent amount of the money Kisuke was able to get on his new toy.

"Really Shinji, I would expect you to recognize a shamisen when you saw one." the man huffed, sitting down by Shinji. Shuhei was staring at the instrument. He had never seen one before, nor had he heard of one. If people had instruments in the rukongai, they were not out playing them where unfortunate kids could hear them. Shinji also huffed in annoyance.

"That's not what I meant Rose and you know it." he said. Rose pushed his hair back behind his shoulder.

"If you must know I was helping one of our neighbors with a garden. She gave me some money for the assistance. I figured since we don't have much to do around here for the time being I could at least play music." Rose said. Shinji nodded, accepting that answer. Rose then adjusted the shamisen before he began to play. His fingers glided over the strings and Shinji smiled and closed his eyes. He leaned back against a post, enjoying the music. After a few moments he heard a noise that wasn't from the music and cracked open one eye. Shuhei had moved to sit beside him and watch Rose play. The boy looked completely captivated by Rose.

Shinji wasn't sure how long Rose played, and he was sure he may have dozed off for part of it. Yet when he opened his eyes again nothing had changed. Rose was still playing and Shuhei was watching in complete fascination. He only had that look when Kensei said they would make a new recipe or Lisa brought him a new book. Rose stopped playing and looked at Shuhei.

"Would you like to try?" he asked. The boy turned bright red and shook his head.

"I can't play." he said quickly. Rose scowled.

"Well we can't have that can we. I'll teach you." he decided. Shuhei's face lit up. Shinji meanwhile groaned.

"Are you sure about that Rose? It's just going to sound like noise for a while and Hiyori is going to get mad." Shinji said. Rose smiled.

"Maybe, but it's you she'll hit. She'll just yell at Shuhei. It's fine anyway. It's not like we're so busy running our divisions anymore anyway." Rose said. However after the words came out of his mouth he regretted it. Both he and Shinji felt another wave of rage. Aizen would pay for every second they suffered from his betrayal. Tosen and Gin as well.

"I don't want to cause any trouble." Shuhei said quickly.

"Nonsense. Let's get started shall we?" Rose asked, waving aside the concerns. Shinji stood up.

"Well you two have fun, I'm going to check on the others." he announced. Rose nodded and began explaining the shamisen to Shuhei. Shinji meanwhile headed to the underground training grounds. He wanted to check on the others. He opened the trap door and jumped down, still not having a ladder to use. They as a group decided it would be best to install the ladder after they made some progress in their hollow training. After all they didn't want Shuhei to be down there if something bad where to happen.

Shinji saw Love, Kensei, Lisa, Kisuke, Tessai, and Hachi talking. "What's going on?" he asked, walking over. The others turned to look at him.

"I think we should reevaluate how we look at this." Kisuke said. Shinji raised an eyebrow, a silent demand for him to elaborate. "Maybe we shouldn't be trying to control the hollows but try to work with them." Kisuke said. Shinji didn't like that answer, and it seemed the others didn't either.

"What the hell does that mean?" Kensei spat. Kisuke sighed, as if he had assumed it would be hard to talk to them.

"Think of it this way. These hollows are similar to your zanpakuto's now. They are part of your powers and rest in your souls." he said.

"Are you suggesting we treat these hollows like we would if we were trying to gain a bankai?" Lisa asked, confused. Kisuke pulled out a fan.

"Exactly!" he sang. Shinji paused at that. It may just work. However these were hollows. They couldn't really be reasoned with. They weren't like a zanpakuto which had a soul. These were just monsters that wanted to devour and kill. However they were starting to get desperate.

"Fine Kisuke, I'll try it your way." he said, then he turned to walk away from the group. He may as well be the first. If it was like bankai, then it should be one of them who have already mastered bankai.

"Your...your going to try this crazy idea?" Kensei yelled. Shinji nodded, not even stopping until he felt he was a good distance away.

"And what if this hollow decides to take over your body while your talking to it?" Love spat, not liking this plan either. Shinji turned to face them.

"Then restrain me. That's what we've been doing after all. It'll be fine." he said. Then he sat down and closed his eyes. The others watched him uneasily. Hachi and Tessai looked at each other, a silent conversation that only those who have worked together for many years could understand. They turned back to where Shinji was sitting, creating a barrier around him. The others sat down. Nothing else to do now but wait.

xxx

Shinji opened his eyes. He was in his inner world. He hadn't been there is a long time. Not since he achieved bankai. "So, you're finally back." Sakanade sneered from behind him. Shinji turned to his zanpakuto with a smile.

"Hey Sakanade, long time no see. How you been? Got a new roommate?" he sang. The spirit scowled.

"No thanks to you. That monster has been rampaging around, doing whatever the hell he wants." the spirit hissed. Shinji nodded.

"Sorry but it couldn't be helped." he said. Sakanade scowled.

"Couldn't be helped? You knew that bastard was up to something and he still managed to stab you in the back." the spirit said. Shinji nodded.

"He did. That's why we're going to use these powers that he gave us to kill him." he said. Sakanade looked him over, then sighed.

"I'll take you to where that bastard is hiding. Maybe we can force him to settle down." Sakanade said.

xxx

Shinji suddenly threw back his head screaming. A mask formed over his face. "Shit!" Kensei cursed. The hollow charged forward, slamming into the barrier. It cracked, but held. Tessai and Hachi put another layer on the barrier. Kensei quickly drew Tachikaze from his belt. "Let me in there." he demanded.

"Are you insane?" Love snapped. Kensei gritted his teeth.

"If he keeps attacking the barrier he'll get out. If I give him someone to fight then they can contain him until Shinji figures out whatever the hell he's trying to do." Kensei snapped. Love sighed and stepped back. He didn't like it, but he wasn't about to stop him. Tessai looked at Kisuke who nodded.

"Very well. Go up to the barrier." he said. Kenei nodded. Hachi and Tessai opened the barrier and Kensei rushed in. They quickly closed it. The hollowified Shinji screamed and rushed at Kensei, who blocked him with his blade.

"Shuhei you can't go down..." the others heard Rose yell. Shuhei then dropped down from the hole. Love shunpoed to the boy, grabbing him, then shunpoed back to Lisa and the others. Rose, Hiyori, and Mashiro arrived quickly after.

"What are you doing kid?! You're going to get hurt!" Love yelled. Shuhei wasn't watching him though. He was watching the hollowfied Shinji make another attack at Kensei. Shuhei gasped when one of his claws cut Kensei's arm. While Shuhei had been growing close to all the others during his stay there, he had a special relationship with Kensei. Kensei was the man who saved him, who gave him a life. Kensei was the first person who saw any value in him. He was also the first one to ever try to teach Shuhei anything. Shuhei looked up to Kensei more then he did the others.

"Shuhei!" Lisa called, trying to get his attention. They could hear the fight behind them, but they decided to ignore it. Tessai and Hachi had it under control. Lisa grabbed the boy's arm and he finally looked at her. "Shuhei, why did you jump down here?!" she demanded.

"I was worried! None of you let me come down here. I don't even know what's going on. All I hear are screams all the time and it's scary. This one sounded...worse then the others." he said. Lisa closed her eyes to think. Shuhei had felt so left out because they were trying to protect him. He had been worried about them. She immediately pulled him into a hug.

"Shuhei, everything is fine." she said. But the boy tried to pull back.

"It's not fine! What's going on with Shinji-niisan?" he yelled. Lisa winced. Love looked over at the fighting duo again. Kensei blocked another attack, only to get sent flying from a kick he didn't see coming. For a hakuda master to get caught off guard it was looking like this fight was going to be hard. Hiyori meanwhile stepped forward and put a hand on Shuhei's shoulder, causing the boy to stop trying to pull away from Lisa and look up at her.

"Baldy isn't going to die, and neither is Kensei." she said. Shuhei looked down again. "Trust me on that one." she added.

xxx

"So your the asshole causing all of these problems?" Shinji asked, sounding board. The hollow looked over at him, smiling in glee.

"It's about time you came to face me yourself. I was getting board." It sang. Shinji scowled.

"Sakanade is getting annoyed by your behavior. Seems we gotta set down some ground rules if you want to stay here." Shinji said.

xxx

Love went toward the barrier. "Kensei's had about all he can take, switch us out." he ordered. Hachi and Tessai nodded without protest. Kensei wasn't looking too good after all. He had been in with the hollow for nearly ten minutes now. It was taking up all his energy not to be killed. As soon as the openin was created Love ran in, grabbed Kensei by his arm and shoved him back through the opening. Kensei stumbled back a few steps and Hachi and Tessai resealed the barrier. Kensei was about to protest what just happened.

"Your alright niisan!" Kensei whipped around to see Shuhei with Lisa, Mashiro, and Hiyori.

"What the hell is he doing down here? What if the barrier brakes?!" he yelled at the others, wondering who was stupid enough to bring the kid down.

"He was worried about all of us. I guess we really can't hide it from him anyway." Rose said. Kensei scowled. He knew it was fair for Shuhei to be there, to see what was going on and what he would have to do. However they wanted to have at least half of them safe to be around before that happened. Shuhei ran over to stand by his side.

"Are you alright? I can get the first aid kit and..." he started.

"I'm fine kid. Just tired I guess." Kensei said, sitting down. Shuhei did the same.

xxx

"Not bad Shinigami. You are pretty strong." It groaned from where it way lying on the ground. Shinji pulled back his sword.

"So does this mean you'll do as I say?" he asked. It started laughing.

"It means we have an agreement for now. As long as you are stronger then me, I'll let you use my power. The day I become stronger then you, I'll be taking over." the hollow chuckled. Shinji actually smiled.

"Then I have nothing to worry about do I?" he asked. Shinji closed his eyes, focusing on returning to his body.

xxx

Lisa blocked another attack, then took a step back to ready for the next one. To her surprise the hollow mask suddenly shattered. Shinji fell to his knees, exhausted. Lisa took a hesitant step forward. "Shinji..." she started. Shinji looked up with a smile. Lisa gave a relieved smile. Seeing her drop her weapon and Shinji back to normal, Tessai and Hachi dropped their barriers. Hachi looked around the room. He knew he and his mentor would have to heal Shinji, Kensei, Love, Rose, Hiyori, and Lisa. They were all rather beat up, but if that smile from Shinji was anything to go by, then it was worth it. They finally were making progress.

"Shinji-niisan, your alright." Shuhei yelled, running over to check on him. Shinji was surprised but decided not to question it. He smiled.

"Yeah, and now we can actually start making some real progress!" he said.

 **Thank you all for your support! Especially Cade Mistral, DetectiveBiggs98, DiabloDH3, Fugucatcheur, justsomerealguy, Sanasuke, Shiba Senju, Silver Huntress Raleen, and vueren! You are all amazing!**


	6. Training with Yoruichi

"I don't think it's a good idea." Shuhei heard as he passed the dinning room. He stopped, curious what was being said inside. He glanced in to see all the others were gathered in the room. It had been Shinji who had spoken, looking at each of the others in turn.

"The rest of us managed to gain control of our hollows. It's his turn now!" Hiyori snapped. It had been a few months since Shinji's success and each of the other seven former officers had cycled through, reaching a little past their first year in the human world. Shuhei hadn't seen any of it. He had been too afraid to go back down. Seeing Shinji so out of control like that had terrified him. Even now when Shinji talked to him he would sometimes flinch or back away from him. It didn't do it on purpose, but he was afraid that one of his brother figures would loose control again.

"He's not like us Hiyori! He's a kid! Not just looking like a kid because of how slowly souls age but a literal kid! When each of us faced those hollows we had our zanpakuto's to help us, and even then we had to fight. Do you really think Shuhei can fight a hollow by himself? He doesn't even know how to throw a punch!" Shinji said. Shuhei winced at that. He knew how much they valued strength. They really did view him as a useless child.

"Not to mention his reiatsu is still rather low. Kensei, you said his reiatsu was low when you met him and it has only gone up a little since the hollow was put in his soul. Shuhei doens't have enough reiatsu for the hollow to bother trying to take over his body. He should be safe for a while without even trying." Lisa said. That hurt to hear for the boy.

"You're right." To hear that from Kensei was even worse. For Kensei to not even believe in him was the worst feeling he had had.

"For now we should just focus on developing these powers with the hollows. After all they aren't useful at all if we can't use them for more than a second." Love said.

Shuhei didn't bother to listen to anymore, but instead went outside. It was true that he was afraid of the idea of having to face that hollow too, but he wanted to help the others. He wanted to show them that he wasn't weak so they wouldn't leave him behind. He knew they weren't planning on staying with Kisuke forever, and he had a feeling that when they moved on to face Aizen they would leave him with Kisuke and Tessai. While he liked them both, he really waned to be with Kensei and the others.

A meow caught his attention and he turned to see a black cat. It wasn't one of the ones Hachi had been taking in. This one looked rather well kept. He walked over to sit down nest to the cat. "If your waiting for Hachi-niisan to feed you, you'll have to wait until the meeting is over." he said.

"What meeting?" Shuhei leaped back from the cat. There was no way the cat could speak!

"Y..you s...spoke?!" he yelled, alarmed. The cat cocked its head to the side.

"Really Shuhei is it that surprising?" the cat asked. Shuhei froze. How did the cat know his name?

"Yo...you're not a normal cat are you?" he asked. The cat chuckled.

"Maybe the others didn't tell you...very well, there's no harm in showing you." the cat mused. Suddenly in a puff of smoke Yoruichi was standing in front of him. Shuhei immediately yelled and turned away.

"Obasan, your a cat?!" he yelled. He could hear her chuckle.

"So they really didn't tell you. Yes I can transform into a cat." she said. Shuhei scowled. "Now what meeting are the others in?" she asked. Shuhei didn't know how much she knew. After all it had been a while since she vanished.

"They're talking about training with the hollows powers. They managed to defeat their hollows." Shuhei grumbled.

"And what about you?" Yoruichi asked. Shuhei's silence answered that. Yoruichi sighed. Either Shuhei failed, which was unlikely since he was still there, or the others wouldn't let him try. "I see. What's the reason?" she asked. She already knew herself. Shuhei didn't seem like he had been training, and it was most likely due to them starting to see him as a little sibling that needed to be kept out of all if it.

"They don't think I'm ready." Shuhei said. Then he turned to face her. Yoruichi could tell from the look on his face that he had a crazy idea, one she didn't think the others would approve of. "Obasan, do you think you can train me so I can be ready?!" he asked. Yoruichi blinked in surprise.

"You want me to train you?" she asked. He nodded.

"If I learn to fight then the others will stop thinking of me as a useless child!" he reasoned. Yoruichi knew for a fact the others didn't think that at all. However to a child that may be how their actions came across. She thought about her last student. She smirked.

"My training isn't for the weak of heart Shuhei." she taunted. Shuhei gave her a determined look.

"Good." he said. Yoruichi sighed. The others wouldn't be thanking her for this.

xxx

Shuhei fell to the ground with a grunt. He had been training with Yoruichi for nearly two months in secret and he wasn't getting any better. They usually came to this small field away from the others, choosing times when they were training so no one would notice their absence. "Not bad. You almost evaded the second attack that time." she said. He scowled.

"Don't lie to me." he hissed. She sighed.

"I'm not lying Shuhei. Why don't we take a break. Come on, I brought lunch." she said. The two went to a nearby tree, sitting under it. "You know, it's been a lon time since I've trained anyone. The only other ones I ever really took under my wings was Soifon and my brother." she said. Shuhei recalled his conversation with Lisa, telling him Yoruichi had a brother.

"What are they like?" Shuhei asked. Yoruichi smiled.

"SoiFon is skilled and talented. I think she may have liked Kisuke quite a bit. She trained hard and was a good girl. She'll probably take over now that I"m not there. My brother Yushiro...well your similar to him." she said. Shuhei didn't know if he liked that.

"How?" he asked. She smiled.

"He can be a cry baby at times and is very impulsive. He trains hard though, since he refuses to be left behind. He'll probably take over the clan now that I'm gone." she said. Shuhei had mixed feelings about that. It was heart braking to hear of all the loved ones who were all suffering due to his new families absence in their lives. Shuhei didn't know what to do to help them. The only thing he could think of was get stronger so he wouldn't be a burden on them.

"Can you teach me to move as fast as you do?" Shuhei suddenly asked. Yoruichi seemed to think for a moment.

"One day Shuhei, but not right now." she said. The boy pouted.

"Why not?" he asked. She sighed.

"Do you know what reiatsu is Shuhei? I'm sure the others have tossed around the word around you, but have any of them actually explained it?" she asked. Shuhei shook his head. Yoruichi sighed. Of course they hadn't explained anything. "Souls have reishi or spirit particles in them. Depending on the concentration they can have a different level of power, called reiyoku. These are gauged differently to see what strengths you have. Kisuke has immense reiryoku which gives off a large amount off pressure when released. That is called reiatsu. Most of the others have great or high reiryoku. You have are around average. The others know this because of the weak reiatsu you give off." she explained.

"Meaning?" Shuhei asked. Yoruichi smiled. He was hanging around Kensei and Hiyori too much, just wanting to get straight to the point.

"I'm getting to that. In order to be a Shinigami you have to have learned four fighting techniques. These include zanjutsu or the ability to communicate and effectively use a zanpakuto, hakuda which is the unarmed combat we are learning here now, hoho which is the fast movement you were talking about, and kido which are similar to spells and barriers. In order to use three of them you must have high levels of reiryoku." she said. Shuhei looked down.

"Your saying I'm not strong enough then." Shuhei said. Yoruichi nodded.

"You do have reiryoku and it will get stronger, but that's something that will take time to grow and train up. If you want to get there you have to train hard and work hard. Think of it like a muscle." she said. Shuhei nodded.

"I understand." he said. She nodded and handed him an onigiri.

"If so then eat so we can go again." she said.

 **Thank you all so much! During the week it is hard for me to update but I'm doing it over the weekends! Thank you so much for the review Silver Huntress Raleen! It made me really happy! Also welcome Qixity! I hope you both continue to like the story.**


	7. A store

"Shuhei, can you come help me with this?" Kisuke called. The small boy ran over to the scientist's side to see large boxes sitting nearby.

"What is this?" he asked, looking around it.

"Merchandise." Kisuke said proudly. Shuhei gave him a confused look. Kisuke sighed. "Well after living in the human world for almost two years now we have nearly ran out of all the emergency funds myself and Tessai had put away. In order to start bringing in money again I decided to turn the front part of our home into a store!" Kisuke sang. Shuhei gave him an unimpressed look.

"What do the others think?" he asked. Kisuke's face fell.

"I haven't actually told them yet." he said. He knew the others would be pretty divided on it. Some would agree that it would be a good idea, but he could already hear Rose dramatically explaining how the customers would notice that the shopkeeper hasn't aged in who knows how long they may have to keep it running.

"How do you plan on getting it started? Wouldn't it cost a lot to start a store?" Shuhei asked. Kisuke smiled again.

"Normally you'd be right, however I have an old friend in the Soul Society who said she would send me some things without a charge. Rather she's more of a friend of Yoruichi's and Tessai and myself met her through Yoruichi while we were growing up." Kisuke said. Shuhei never really asked much about their relationships. He knew Yoruichi, Tessai, and Kisuke had a unique friendship, that Hachi was Tessai's subordinate, that Mashiro was Kensei's subordinate, that Hiyori was Kisuke's subordinate, and that was about it. He could tell they all had known each other before they had been experimented on.

"Yoruichi-obasan is one of the Five Great Noble Families...so are you and Tessai-ojisan nobles too?" Shuhei asked. Kisuke chuckled.

"No, we weren't nobles but our families lived in the Seriretei. Me and Tessai used to sneak over to the Shihoin Manshion all the time to play with Yoruichi. She was good friends with the second oldest child of the Shiba family, a girl named Kukaku." Kisuke said. Shuhei nodded to show he was paying attention. "Each of the Great Noble Families have a task given to them by the Soul King Reio. Shihoin guards the royal treasury and armory, Kuchiki guards the history of the Soul Society, Shiba helps the royal guard in mobilizing, and so on." Kisuke said.

"You didn't mention the last two." Shuhei huffed. Kisuke smirked. To be honest he didn't really care about them.

"It's fine. Anyway, Kukaku sent me some Soul Society technology so I can start a shop." he said. Shuhei raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't that illegal?" he asked. Kisuke looked at him in an odd way and Shuhei was reminded that them living right now was currently considered 'illegal' as far as the Soul Society was concerned. "Never mind." he decided, picking up the nearest box. Kisuke also picked one up.

"So Shuhei, what are you doing up so late anyway?" Kisuke asked. Shuhei was surprised that hadn't been the first question Kisuke asked, seeing as how it was late at night. To be honest he had had a nightmare. When they first came to the World of the Living Shuhei had been having many nightmares, and they only got worse after he was Shinji loose control like he had. However they had gotten much better since he started training with Yoruichi. Then tonight had to ruin that. He had a horrible nightmare where they faced Aizen and he killed them all but Shuhei, who was forced to stand in the middle of their corpses. Shuhei couldn't go back to sleep after something like that.

"Couldn't sleep." he half admitted. Kisuke gave him a look that showed he didn't believe him for a second. "I couldn't!" Shuhei protested.

"I didn't say anything." Kisuke said, mock surprise. Shuhei scowled, but he didn't say anything. If he did then he'd look like he was picking a fight. Kisuke led the way into one of the rooms and set the box down. Shuhei followed suit. After a few more trips he looked over at Shuhei. "You should probably head to bed now. Growing children should have a steady schedule." he said. Shuhei went to leave but stopped.

"Actually Ojisan, can I ask you something?" Shuhei said. Kisuke nodded.

"Ask whatever you want Shuhei." he said. Shuhei wondered how he should word his question.

"Do you think when the battle with Aizen happens we'll all be here afterwards?" Shuhei asked. Kisuke sighed.

"Shuhei, Aizen or no Aizen, things are going to change. We may or may not be all together in the end, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's just part of life." he said. Shuhei looked down. "I know that isnt what you wanted to hear but I'm not about to lie to you. Tell me, is this part of why you can't sleep?" Kisuke asked. Shuhei nodded.

"I had a nightmare. Everyone died and I couldn't do anything." he admitted. Kisuke nodded.

"It's understandable, but Shuhei no one is dead yet, and the others train so that they won't die. At least not easily." Kisuke said. Shuhei nodded and left to go to bed.

xxxx

"A store? Do you even have the slightest idea how to run one?" Hiyori screamed as she hit her former superior with her shoe. Shuhei came down stairs to see the other ten gathered in the room with the boxes.

"I do." Tessai said from behind him. Hiyori scowled at him.

"No one asked you!" she yelled, throwing the the shoe so that it hit Tessai in the face.

"Calm down Hiyori." Shinji said, grabbing Hiyori's arm. She turned a furious look at him. "Kisuke wouldn't be doing this unless he thought it through. Let him do what he wants." Shinji said. Hiyori yanked her arm free and stormed off. Shuhei watched her go out the door.

"I don't like it either, but if you're going to do it then do it with some style. I suppose I can help give some kind of small store a little character." Rose offered.

"Please, you're taste in decorating would destroy it." Love said. Rose huffed in annoyance. Kensei said nothing but just folded his arms. Shuhei went over to stand by his side.

"Where did you even get all this stuff?" asked Mashiro as she gave a box a light kick.

"A friend of Yoruichi's!" Kisuke sang.

"Yoruichi's? But didn't she leave soon after we got here?" Lisa asked. Shuhei looked at the ground. Yoruichi hadn't come back to see the others, she only returned to train with Shuhei. For four months they trained a few times a week, but lately she had been coming around only once a week. She told him that while she wasn't there he was responsible for training on his own, for developing his reiatsu. He hadn't told the others about their training.

"Yes, but see the friend is also an old acquaintance of mine. She agreed to send me some things we could sell here." Kisuke said. Lisa accepted that.

"And just who is going to help you run this?" Love asked. Kisuke pulled out a fan. Shuhei was getting very annoyed by that fan's precence. He aslways used it to hide himself when he was up to something or didnt want anyone to try to read him.

"Shuhei and Tessai of course!" he sang. Kensei raised an eyebrow as Shuhei moved back a step in surprise.

"Did you ask Shuhei about this?" Hachi asked politely. Kisuke waved the fan around.

"It will be fine. Besides he's not doing much else. It'll give him something to do while you all train!" Kisuke said. Shuhei looked up at Kensei.

"You can always tell him to go to hell you know." Kensei said. Shuhei knew he'd never do that. Besides he wanted to help the others and not be a burden. That was the whole purpose of training after all. At least now he was doing something that would be helping them now and not down the road.

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	8. Tessai and picnics!

"Shuhei, can you help me organize this shelf?" Tessai asked as the boy passed by. Shuhei nodded and stopped whatever he was doing. Kisuke had finally got his store up and running, and while it wasn't very popular yet, they were making enough money to not only stay in business but start replenishing their depleted funds. Tessai looked over at the boy as he started unloading the box.

He had noticed how strong Shuhei had been getting in the last three years since they had arrived. He knew most of the others hadn't noticed. Either they were ignoring it because that meant Shuhei should start training soon, or they were so wrapped up in their own training that they didn't notice. Tessai was no fool either. He knew Shuhei was improving rapidly. His physical strength was improving, but so was his reiatsu. He knew it wouldn't improve that fast unless Shuhei had been training with it as well. Kisuke had also seemed to suspect Shuhei had been training, but neither said a thing. If he was improving so well it meant he had an excellent teacher, and only one other person could teach him how to be a shinigami in the human world.

"Like this ojisan?" Tessai turned back to the shelf to see Shuhei had arranged the objects by size. He nodded.

"That will do." he remarked. Shuhei nodded and went to leave, but then paused and turned back to Tessai.

"Anything else Ojisan?" he asked. Tessai shook his head. Shuhei actually looked sad at that. Tessai knew why, Shuhei felt lonely. He didn't attempt to go out and meet anyone, knowing full well that he wasn't going to age like the other kids and it would be quickly noticed. It was the very reason Kisuke didn't let him interact with the customers at the store, but instead just help stock shelves when there was no one around. He couldn't go see the other eight either, they would send him away while they trained. Tessai wanted to do something to help the boy, but options were really limited. He wished they hadn't been exiled. Shuhei then headed through the back door into their 'home'. Tessai figured he'd probably read a book.

"We should do something." Tessai wasn't surprised by his friend's sudden appearance, nor did he even think to question how long Kisuke had been watching. Growing up with people like Kisuke and Yoruichi was not for jumpy people or the feint of heart. Both liked to spring surprises on people and were very skilled at it due to their talents in the onmitsukio. Tessai hadn't been caught off guard by either of them in decades because he always expected it now.

"What do you suggest?" he asked. Tessai was a smart man, but Kisuke was in a class all of his own. If anyone could find an out of the box solution to a seemingly impossible problem, it would be that man. Kisuke hummed in thought.

"Why don't we have an outing?" he asked. Tessai gave him an odd look. "It's spring right? Even people in hiding should be able to have a picnic to see the cherry blossoms." Kisuke said. Tessai thought about it. It wouldn't be a bad idea, and it would give Shuhei a chance to spend a day with everyone. He nodded.

"How will you get the others to go?" he asked. Kisuke chuckled and Tessai knew the others would defiantly be there. There was no escape when Kisuke had set his mind to something.

"I will handle them. You go talk to Shuhei. We'll go tomorrow." Kisuke decided. Tessai nodded. He headed into the home they had and sure enough he found Shuhei in a corner, reading a particularly large volume Lisa had found. He stopped to watch the child for a moment. It was one of those rare moments he was glad Shuhei was around. Most of the time Tessai and the others were both angry and sad that Shuhei had gotten pulled into this whole mess. Yet at times Shuhei would make each of them think things weren't so bad. When he was cooking with Kensei, reading with Lisa, playing with Mashiro, getting pulled into helping Hiyori pull some prank on Shinji, playing music with Rose, listening to Love's stories on the edge of his seat, helping Hachi take care of the stray cats, or helping Kisuke and Tessai around the store he would be able to distract them from the world and focus on the good things that they somehow had.

"Shuhei." Tessai finally called. The small boy looked up from the book.

"Do you need some more help Ojisan?" he asked. Tessai smiled.

"No, I actually came to tell you we're closing the shop tomorrow." he said. Shuhei looked a little confused.

"Huh? Why?" he asked. Tessai sensed a level of panic in his voice and wondered if Shuhei misunderstood what he said.

"Not for good, just the day." he said. The panic vanished but only to be replaced by curiosity.

"What for?" he asked. Tessai thought the look suited him. A child hanging out with that group needed to be curious and inquisitive about everything.

"We're going out for the day, all of us." he said. Shuhei broke out in a large grin.

"Really?" he asked. Tessai nodded to confirm that.

"We need to figure out what we're going to make to eat thou..." he started, but Shuhei was already on his feet headed toward the kitchen.

"Leave it to me!" he called over his shoulder. Tessai nodded.

xxxx

"This is stupid." Hiyori grumbled as she helped Lisa set down the blanket.

"It can't be helped." Shinji sighed. Kisuke had indeed backed them all into a corner. It was only after they agreed to go that he explained that it was for Shuhei. They were a little less bitter about being conned into the picnic after that. Currently said child was standing under a cherry blossom tree staring at the pink petals in awe. He had seen them a few times from their previous spring, but had never gotten to get really close to them. At least during the day. They looked so much different under sunlight then the moon. Shuhei couldn't pick which one he liked better.

"Indeed, so let's try to enjoy this." Rose sang in a happy voice, clearly enjoying himself. He had already pulled out an instrument and began to play music. Lisa sat on a corner of the blanket and pulled out a book. Hachi sat on another corner and began to unpack the food Shuhei had made the day before. He had already been finished in the kitchen by the time the others had learned what he was up too. Unlike his first attempt at cooking, the kitchen was spotless and the food was amazing.

"Shuhei, come eat with us." Love called as he also sat down with Hiyori, Shinji, and Kensei. Shuhei started toward them to do just that, but Mashiro shunpoed behind him and tapped him on the head.

"Tag!" she sang before she started running. Shuhei scowled at being caught off guard and ran to persue her.

"Stop being so childish!" Hioryi scolded, but neither was listening to her.

"Let them be. Shuhei is still a kid after all." Shinji said, taking a plate for himself. Hiyori scowled.

"It's not Shuhei that's being childish." Hiyori snapped. Suddenly Mashiro was behind her and tapped her, much harder then she had Shuhei, on her head.

"You're it!" she said. Hiryori exploded in anger and immediately ran after her, Shuhei trying to pursue both females. Shinji smirked.

"Now who's the childish one?" he taunted, but Hiyori was too angry to hear him. Kensei rolled his eyes at Mashiro's antics while he also fixed himself a plate. At that point Hiyori began using shunpo to try and get Mashiro, so she began to use it as well. Shuhei couldn't keep up anymore so he headed back to the others. He sat down next to Kensei.

"Tired already?" he asked, amused. Shuhei puffed out his cheeks in annoyance.

"They're too fast." he pouted. Kensei chuckled.

"Then get faster." he said as if it was a simple solution. He handed Shuhei the plate he made for himself and began making a second one. Shuhei then looked back at the trees.

"They're pretty." he said to Tessai who was sitting on his other side. Tessai simply nodded. Hiyori returned to the blanket, followed by Mashiro. Hiyori never did get her and just gave up to go eat dinner. "We should do this more often!" Shuhei announced. The others looked at him before looking back up at each other. Tessai tried not to smirk as the others seemed to realize that Shuhei needed more time with others.

"We can't promise anything Shuhei, but we'll see what we can do." Shinji said.

 **Honestly I just wanted to highlight Tessai being perceptive about their child companion. He's just a wonderful person and while he will being doing more to help Shuhei in the future, like all of them, I wanted to have just a cute little moment that all of them could have! I hope you like it! Thank you so much Ks and Kyouki no kitsune for your reviews, you guys are amazing! Also welcome annikakirsteannika95n, ButterfliesInTheSkies, EchoBlackblood, bobbinbird! I hope you all continue to like it!**


	9. A gift from Yoruichi

Shuhei moved quietly towards the door. He figured he might be able to pull off a shunpo toward the door since Yoruichi had been teaching him that, but he didn't want to risk getting found by the others. A shunpo would require reiatsu, and reiatsu would go noticed. He was nearly at the door anyway. "It's pretty late Shuhei. You shouldn't be going out alone at this hour." Shuhei jumped at Kisuke's voice and turned to face him.

"Ojisan!? What are you doing up?!" he asked quickly. Kisuke gave him a look Shuhei couldn't quite read.

"That's what I want to ask you Shuhei." he said rather sternly. Truthfully, Kisuke had known exactly what Shuhei had been doing. For nearly five years now he had been secretly training with Yoruichi. He felt how quickly the boy's soul was strengthening. Soon the hollow would not be sitting idly by any longer, not when this boys power was growing at such a quick rate. If Kisuke had to give the boy and estimate, he would defiantly be accepted into the Gotie thirteen by now, however he would be an unseated member for sure. Shuhei looked away and shifted nervously. It was clear he felt guilty.

"I was just going out for a bit." he said. Kisuke nodded.

"I see. What exactly do you think Kensei and the others are going to say when they learn you've been out training with Yoruichi?" he asked. Shuhei looked stunned.

"Are...are you going to tell them?" he asked. Kisuke sighed and offered the boy a small smile.

"Shuhei, they care about you and want to protect you. You are the first child that they have ever raised and they don't want you to get pulled into a war that isn't yours." he said. To his surprise Shuhei gave him a skeptical look.

"Then what is it that you think Ojisan?" he asked. Kisuke was mildly surprised by that. Shuhei was more perceptive then he seemed. The light caught off of the scar down his face and Kisuke felt that he had a right to be.

"I think you need to make the decisions of what you do on your own, however no matter what you choose you're going to need to be able to control the hollow in your soul. In order to do that you need to be able to fight." Kisuke said. Shuhei looked him over.

"Are you saying you won't tell the others?" Shuhei asked. Kisuke chuckled. This kid really was growing up, and quickly at that.

"Actually, I have a gift for you. It's from Yoruichi. She also gave me a message." Kisuke said. Shuhei thought that that must have been how Kisuke knew he was training with Yoruichi, but he scratched that thought quickly. Kisuke probably knew from the start. The man moved behind one of the shelves pulling out a katana. Shuhei looked at him in shock.

"What is that?" he asked. Kisuke handed it over to him.

"Yoruichi said she needs to go investigate something. Because of that she won't be around for a while. She said your hakuda skills have improved. If you got attacked by anyone here in the human world she has no doubts you'd crush them. However hollows and shinigami aren't the same. You'll need to keep training, and if you want to get stronger you may need to rely on this as well. It's an asauchi. It was forged by Oetsu Nimiya and taken from the Soul Society by Yoruichi for you." Kisuke said. Shuhei looked down at the weapon in awe. The black sheath and hilt nearly melted into the night.

"Why are you giving it to me?" Shuhei asked. Kisuke smiled.

"An Asauchi is like a child. At this time it's very impressionable and can become anything. That's what makes it so powerful, not what it has but the potential of what it can be." he said. Shuhei felt like he wasn't just talking about the weapon, but him as well. "As you wield it you pour your soul into it. The Asauchi will mold and form into a power that best reflects you. It will gain a soul of it's own that will be your partner that will help you through trials and challenges." he said. Shuhei looked back at the weapon again.

"Does it have a name?" he asked. Kisuke shook his head.

"Not yet. Shuhei, the reason I'm giving this to you is so that when your ready to face the hollow inside you, you will have someone to help you." he said. Shuhei gripped the sheath hard. "However you do not yet know how to use it, and it would be dangerous for you to try using it without training." Kisuke said. Shuhei looked up at him.

"Does that mean you'll teach me how to use this?" he asked. Kisuke had to admit he walked into that one. He had just intended to caution Shuhei not to be out using it just yet, but now the boy looked dead set on having Kisuke be his teacher. He knew if Shuhei went to the others they would probably take the weapon from him, saying he was too young to have it. Kisuke was half tempted to agree, but Yoruichi's words rang in his mind.

Yoruichi had a unique relationship with Shuhei then the others. While she admitted to Kisuke that she was starting to think of Shuhei as a little brother, she still saw him as a warrior as well. To her, he was not much different then her own brother or Soi Fon. She had told him that Shuhei had potential and determination. He had known that, after all Yoruichi wouldn't waste her time on someone weak.

"If I teach you you have to promise that you will put your all into it." Kisuke said. Shuhei nodded.

"Of course Ojisan!" he said.

xxx

Hiyori headed toward the kitchen, having woken up and wanting a glass of water. "You"Or course Ojisan!" she paused, that was Shuhei's voice. Hiyori scowled. It was late into the night, nothing good ever occurred from late night meetings.

"For now it is off to bed." Kisuke said sternly. Hiyori wished it had been Tessai he had been talking to. Her old taichou was up to something and she didn't like it. She stood by the door as Shuhei ran out, not even noticing her. "Why good evening Hiyori." Kisuke greeted as he came to the doorway.

"What's going on?" she demanded. Kisuke gave her a stunned look.

"What could that mean?" he lamented. She scowled.

"Cut the shit Urahara, why were you talking to Shuhei this late at night?" she hissed. Kisuke smiled.

"It was nothing at all. Shuhei simply couldn't sleep and I happened to be up. I told him he shouldn't go out tonight and sent him back to bed.' he said. It wasn't a lie, in fact it was the whole truth, minus a few minor pieces. Hiyori scowled. She knew he left out the important parts, she had been his fukutaihcou for nine years after all.

"Listen Urahara, I'm not your subordinate anymore. If you do anything that puts Shuhei in any kind of danger it will be me you have to deal with." she hissed. Kisuke gave her a rare serious look.

"Hiyori, I wouldn't do that, and you know it." he said. She nodded, accepting that for now. She wasn't a fool, she knew how restless Shuhei was getting, but he had no need to be dragged any further into this war. Kisuke would not be allowed to pull him in, under any circumstances.

 **So I wanted Shuhei to have his zanpakuto. There it is. Also I hadn't been meaning to neglect Hiyori but I feel like she's more of the 'watch from afar, pick on him a little, if someone makes him cry I'll tear their spine out' kind of person. Thank you for the reviews justsomerealguy and DetectiveBiggs98. They made me really happy! Also it's nice to see you killercocoa, posionchan, and killercocoa. I hope you all continue to enjoy the story!**


	10. Shopping and fears

"Come on neesan!" Shuhei yelled, running forward into the crowd.

"Shuhei get back here!" Hiyori yelled in annoyance. This week was her turn to go shopping for food. She never liked to shop to begin with, and she liked it even less when she had some excited brat who wanted to run off and explore. While it was usually only one person that would go shopping a week, a precaution to keep the residential shinigami from recognizing who they were, Shuhei had taken to going with the designated individual. The others knew they would eventually have to put a stop to it, but for now they didn't mind.

Hiyori looked around, trying to locate the boys wild hair. Sure enough she spotted him near an old man who sold books. She huffed in annoyance. Shuhei loved books and they couldn't keep enough around. A few weeks ago he was talking about looking for a new book, using the pocket money Kisuke gave him for helping around, and Hiyori told him he should just write his own. It was a snide remark meant to let the boy know he had annoyed her. She hadn't expected him to lite up and say he should try it.

"Neesan look, I bought some paper!" he said, holding up a thick stack that he must have bought from the old man. Hiyori nodded to show she saw.

"Yeah yeah, come on Shuhei." she said, pulling the boy away. After a few feet she let go of his arm, trusting him to follow her.

"Neesan, are you mad at me?" Shuhei asked, looking up at her. Hiyori sighed. She hated it when Shuhei misunderstood what she was thinking.

"No Shuhei I'm not, I just don't like the market." she said. Shuhei smiled again, as if that was the only thing he needed to hear. Hiyori looked the boy over. She had taken to doing that since she saw him talking to Kisuke. She didn't notice much different with the boy and considered that a good thing. She didn't miss his growing reiatsu though. He was growing up in many ways. He was still a long way to go before he would be seen as any real threat, but he was defiantly strong enough to start attracting some attention. She had been thinking about telling the others they should start taking precautions for a while now, but since the others didn't seem too worried she decided she shouldn't be either.

A hand grabbed her clothing at her side and she realized Shuhei had stopped. She followed Shuhei's line of sight to see the residential shinigami. He was staring directly at Shuhei and Shuhei was staring back. She felt a small tremor go through the child's body. Hiyori knew the shinigami had felt Shuhei's growing reiatsu and probably figured he was one of the rare humans who could see spiritual beings.

"Shuhei, what are you staring at, come on." she scolded loud enough for the shinigami to hear her before grabbing Shuhei's arm and pulling him away. Shuhei looked up at her in surprise, but silently followed her orders. A hollow scream ripped through the air and the shinigami finally stopped staring at Shuhei and left to dispatch the hollow.

"Sorry neesan." Shuhei said in a low voice.

"What the hell was that even about?" Hiyori asked. Shuhei looked down.

"He was scary." he said softly. Hiyori was about to demand what that meant but she looked at his scar and changed her mind. Shuhei's experience with shinigami had been limited. If he ever saw one until the day he met Kenei, he probably never interacted with them. If he did it may not have been pleasant. Despite the numbers that came from the rukongai, many of the shinigami seemed to have an extreme hatred of the rukonai citizens. It was as if they were trying to erase the past that they had, or in many others case they felt they were above them. Then Shuhei met Kensei and his team, which had obviously been a positive experience, only to have Tosen slaughter the others and chase him down. Ichimaru cut up his face for fun and even Aizen had probably taken in delight in his pain. They couldn't even really count her and the others as shinigami in Shuhei's mind because they were not shinigami anymore when Shuhei met them.

"Not all shinigami are bad people Shuhei. Hell even Akon and Nicorun weren't bad, just annoying." she huffed. Shuhei knew who they were from Kisuke and Mashiro's stories. Akon had been a promising young boy around Shuhei's age. He worked in the department Kisuke created with Nicorun, Mashiro's little sister. He knew there were good people. After all he heard about many interesting people from the others all the time. However he couldn't help but see Aizen, Ichimaru, and Tosen when he saw someone in the black robes.

"I know neesan. I'm sorry, I shouldn't freeze like that." he said. Hiyori sighed. She wasn't good with this kind of thing.

"Whatever. You're still a kid anyway. Come on, we got shopping to do." she said, pulling Shuhei down the street.

xxx

Shuhei sat watching the others train with their masks. He knew they thought it was strange, but no one commented on it. He watched as Kensei ans Shinji each put on their masks and went at each other. Shuhei began counting and at seven the two masks disintegrated. Neither man paid it any head and continued to fight. Shuhei turned his attention to Hiyori who was attacking Love. Her mask also lasted only a few seconds. Love didn't use his. Lisa was sparring with Rose, they're masks long gone. Lastly was Mashiro and Hachi. Mashiro was the only one to still have a mask and Hachi was struggling to block her powerful kicks.

Shuhei marveled at them. Not one of them showed a shred of fear. Shuhei wondered if it was because they trusted the others to step in if anything got out of control. He wished he could be like that too. He was still angry at himself for freezing when he saw the shinigami. He knew there were good ones like Hiyori had said. He heard all the stories of the many shinigami and in some cases, children of shinigami that were aspiring to be ones too. He doubted any of them were dangerous. Yet Ichimaru's face appeared in the back of his mind and he decided children were just as deadly.

Shuhei hated how much he lagged behind the children shinigami that the others had spoke of. He felt that if he began training as often as the others he could easily close the gap. Yet he was afraid to ask. He knew the others were purposely keeping him from training. It was as if in the years they had stayed in the human world the others had made the decision that Shuhei was not going to be a warrior, and that frustrated him. Yet after freezing today he knew they had been right. He couldn't fight if he froze at the sight of a single enemy.

Shuhei's attention was suddenly caught by a coin hitting his lap. He looked down to see a hundred yen piece. "Some en for your thoughts?" Kisuke teased from behind him. Shuhei knew he was a loud thinker. At least that was what Lisa had told him on many occasions.

"Not really, just watching them." he said. Kisuke didn't move and Shuhei wondered for a moment if he was going to call him out. However Kisuke shifted, clearly turning to leave.

"Just remember Shuhei, you're still a child and still young." he said. Shuhei turned to watch him leave. He wondered if he should tell someone. A 'thump' sounded beside him and he realized someone had come to sit next to him. He turned in the other direction to see Kensei, drenched in sweat and drinking a glass of water.

"Hey." he said when he finished. Shuhei looked away. Kensei was the last person he could think of going to if it dealt with being weak. Kensei was the one he looked up to the most, and that meant he couldn't do anything that he thought would make Kensei view him in a negative light. "What's going on with you?" Kensei asked. Shuhei wondered if he could get him to drop it like Kisuke had.

"Nothing is wrong nii..." he started.

"Bullshit, so spill it." Kensei said. Shuhei sighed, there was no way out of this one.

"I guess I'm just mad about freezing today." he admitted. Kensei nodded.

"Hiyori said you were afraid of the shinigami." he said. So he had already known? Shuhei briefly wondered why he bothered asking.

"You think I'm pathetic don't you?" Shuhei asked in a small voice. Kensei actually laughed.

"For a kid to get afraid of a shinigami when he was nearly killed by one isn't pathetic." he said. Shuhei sighed.

"You're not afraid of them." Shuhei said. Kensei's eyes hardened. He hated the people who did this to them, but he didn't hold anything against the men and women who served under him.

"I don't know what you want me to tell you kid? All I will say is yeah, we'll all try to help you and look out for you but there is going to be a time where we won't be there. You will have to decide in times like that on what you're going to do. You can either freeze up and let whatever it is that is scarring you win, or you can get over it and do whatever you need to do." he said. Shuhei looked up at him in surprise.

"That's harsh Kensei!" Mashiro whined from behind them. Shuhei hadn't even realize the others had stopped sparing.

"That's life Mashiro. He's a kid yes, but one day he won't be. I'm telling him exactly how it is. He's going to grow up and he might encounter a hollow or a shinigami. If we aren't there he can't just freeze up." Kensei yelled at her, then he turned to Shuhei. "Now you know though, what you're afraid of. In the future you can do something about it." he said.

Shuhei looked down. He had a lot to think about. However one thing was clear. Kensei was right that one day he would face them again. He would find a way to get over his fear. After all, he wasn't afraid of them anymore, even Shinji, when he saw their masks. He knew they were in control now, and he could be too. He looked up at Kensei and smiled. Kensei smiled back, seeing that the kid got his message.

It's alright to be afraid sometimes, but you can't let that fear take over. Sometimes there's just something more important then what is causing that fear.

 **So for anyone who is confused, it was confirmed in the manga that the girl with glasses in the twelveth division's family name is Kuna, just like Mashiro. In the novel 'Can't fear your own world' that focuses on Shuhei it is elaborated by the author that she is Mashiro's little sister Kuna 'Nico' Nicorun. That isn't cannon but I like it so I added it. Welcome to the story** **SuperBunnyDude and thank you for the review! I hope to hear from you again!  
**


	11. An Agreement

**Hey ya'll, sorry but it won't be updating a lot this weekend. I'm going on a kinda spur of the moment trip to Tokyo so I'll be back on Monday, I'll try to write another chapter then but I'll probably be too tired, so I'll write one again sometime next week. Until then, enjoy!**

Shuhei sighed as he watched the others talking. They had just finished training and Kisuke and Tessai were telling them what their analysis was. Shuhei took a deep breath, steadying his nerves. He knew he could just walk away, head back up to the shop and continue to train in secret with Kisuke. However after a little over a decade of being left out he decided he had enough of that. He was going to tell the others and hopefully get their permission to train with them.

"We only managed twelve seconds, there's gotta be a better way." Love grumbled as Shuhei walked over to them.

"Uhm..." he started, but he froze when everyone looked at him. He didn't know how to start.

"Shuhei, what are you doing down here?" Hachi asked. Shuhei looked up at Kisuke and the shop keeper gave him a small nod, as if he knew what Shuhei was about to do and was showing his support. Shuhei figured Kisuke had been wanting him to tell the others for a while now.

"I need to talk to you all." he said, shifting uneasily. Kensei's eyes narrowed and Shuhei knew he hated it when he fidgeted but he wouldn't say anything. "It's really important." he said. The demeanor of the group changed, they were more attentive and a little concerned.

"What is it Shu-chan?" Mashiro asked. Shuhei looked back at the ground. He wasn't sure what they would say, but he'd never know if he didn't get it out. He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, ready to get it over with.

"I want to train with you." he said quickly. For a moment nothing happened. Shuhei cracked open an eye, wanting to see their reactions. They all looked surprised, at least everyone but Kisuke and Tessai looked surprised.

"Where did this come from?" Shinji asked. Shuhei knew Shinji had a point in asking that. Shuhei had never once asked them to let him train or pushed the issue. They made a decision and he never talked to them about it, just accepted it. Or rather that was what they thought he did.

"I want to be able to train with you guys from now on." he said. The others looked at each other.

"Shuhei, I don't want to be mean but your not ready yet." Shinji said. Shuhei knew he should have expected that response, but it still surprised him.

"You can't take this lightly Shuhei. That hollow in your soul could destroy you if you aren't ready. It's best to wait until you get stronger." Lisa said. Shuhei scowled.

"By then it could be too late." he pointed out. The others had to know it was a risk to just leave him the way he was.

"You're reiatsu is still pretty weak Shuhei, you'll be fine for a while." Love countered. Shuhei felt his anger raise and it wasn't the only thing he let flare out of his small body. The others seemed genuinely stunned at the growth of reiatsu he had made over the years.

"When did..." Hachi started.

"I've been working on it for a while. I want to help you all." Shuhei said. The others tried to process that.

"What do you mean you've been working on it?" Kensei didn't sound amused in the least and Shuhei actually flinched. He had seem Kensei genuinely angry a few times, but never once had that anger been directed towards him. He recognized the first signs of that happening though and realized this may be the first time he actually had upset or disappointed the man. It hurt.

"I've been using it little by little to help improve it." Shuhei explained, hoping to keep them from learning the truth. However the others had seemed to already realize what happened. Everyone but Tessai turned a furious look onto Kisuke.

"You've been training him haven't you?!" Hiyori yelled at her former Taichou. Kisuke nodded, giving them a serious look.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Kensei roared at him.

"He asked me to help him, and I did. The real question is why you all won't." Kisuke said in a flat voice. The others looked stunned for a moment before anger took back over.

"He's still a child Kisuke! There's no reason he should have to fight at all!" Rose said. Kisuke gave him a look that showed he disagreed.

"So what did that make Ise? What did that make Akon? Or even Soi Fon?" he asked.

"They are different!" Lisa objected. Kisuke gave them an amused look.

"How so?" he asked. They all paused. "How is Shuhei any different from them besides the fact that you all feel like he is your child?" he asked. They were furious but none of them could think of what to day.

"It doens't matter, the answer is no." Love said after a minute. Shuhei knew that was going to happen, but it still upset him.

"It's my choice to..." he started.

"That's enough Shuhei. The answer is no." Kensei said. The boy looked between them all then turned and stormed away.

"Shu-chan..." Mashiro started, but to their surprise he was gone in an instant, a shunpo.

"Yoruichi taught him that. It's not very fast, nor is it an excellent shunpo. It's sloppy, and the reiatsu was all over the place. However it would qualify him to be in the gotie thirteen without any problems. In fact most of his abilities at this point would defiantly get him admitted." Kisuke mused.

"I don't want to hear shit from you right now." Kensei snapped.

"Kisuke did you even think about this?" Shinji asked. Kisuke actually smiled.

"I did. I thought that there was a child who would definalty attract hollows and other spiritual beings who currently couldn't defend himself. I thought there was a boy who needed to learn how to control the hollow in his body before it decides it wants to own said body." he said. Kensei turned and punched a rock, shattering it to pieces with his bankai.

"Urahara, I request that you stop training Shuhei." Hachi said in a low voice.

"Shove the request Hachi, I'm telling him not to train Shuhei anymore." Hiyori snapped. Kisuke sighed. He had actually seen this coming. To these eight Shuhei was their child, a child that needed to be as far removed from the world that rejected them as possible.

"I will not train him anymore until you all agree to, but I am warning you, to leave him as he is is a terrible decision." Kisuke cautioned.

xxxx

Mashiro sighed as she plopped down next to Kensei. The house occupants all sat in the same room, all except one. "Is he still sulking?" Kensei asked. It had been nearly a week and Shuhei was still upset with all of them.

"Yeah. He won't go play tag with me." she said. Shinji sighed.

"Kensei, go talk to him." he decided. The others looked at the blonde, expecting an explanation.

"Maybe you can convince him to give up for now." Shinji said. Kensei scowled but stood up and left.

"Do you think he will?" Love asked. Shinji shook his head.

"No, more then likely Shuhei will convince him to let him train." he mused. The others looked surprised.

"What are you saying Shinji?" Lisa asked, not amused. Shinji shrugged.

"Kisuke is right about one thing, Shuhei is going to have to learn to control the hollow in his soul, and sooner is probably better then later. We don't have to teach him how to be a soldier, just how to take care of himself. We were so focused on having him be a kid that we forgot even he needs basic combat skills." Shinji said. The others looked down, feeling Shinji had a point. Making it so Shuhei could defend himself didn't mean he would have to face Aizen or the others. However their biggest fear now was Shuhei deciding that he would fight the traitors beside them.

"Fine, whatever those two decide I will go along with." Rose said. Love nodded to show he would too.

"If that's what is best." Lisa agreed. Hachi also nodded. Hiyori crossed her arms, and the others figured that would be the closest to approval they would get. Mashiro sighed in defeat as well.

xxx

Shuhei looked up from his notebook as Kensei came outside. He sat down next to him. "What's that?" Kensei asked. Shuhei looked back at the book.

"It's a story I'm writing." he said. Kensei looked over at it.

"Kid, you used that word so many times, try this." Kensei took the pencil from Shuhei's hand and scratched out a word, placing another on above it. Shuhei nodded, liking the new word. Kensei's appearance and personality sometimes made it hard to remember that he edited a magazine before. After Shuhei had started writing he started taking his stories to Kensei to look over. Currently Kensei and Lisa were the only ones who read his writing. Kensei would give him help with grammar, spelling, and structure. Lisa would give him plot ideas.

"So what did you want?" Shuhei asked after a moment. Kensei sighed.

"It's about you training." he said. Shuhei looked up at him.

"I haven't changed my mind niisama." he said. Kensei looked the boy over. For the last week he had been thinking about it quite a bit, and decided Shuhei had every right to start training.

"I know. I have some ground rules however." he said. Shuhei looked stunned. He was stunned Kensei caved.

"What is it?" he asked quickly. Kensei sighed.

"You can train with us, but only to learn how to control that hollow and defend yourself. That is it." Kensei said. Shuhei nodded. "I mean it kid. You don't need to go out there hunting hollows or anything. It would attract too much attention to us. You don't need to go looking for fights either...but if some punk ever gets in your face you better not disappoint me and lay the little shit in the dirt." Kensei said. Shuhei actually laughed.

"Yes niisama." he said.

 **Thank you** **SuperBunnyDude** **, DiabloDH3, and** **bluewolf0694 for your awesome reviews! Welcome to the story!**


	12. Hearing voices with Love

**Welcome to the story silverhowl55, Little Miss Apocalypse, flamepheonix99, and Pascall. Also thank you for the reviews** **DetectiveBiggs98 and guest. Sorry for the long wait. Last weekend I was on a trip an this weekend I was a little lazy. Anyway I'm back and I got some new ideas! New Character in this chapter. Well new to the story, old for all of us.**

Shuhei wined as Kensei put a bandage over his nose. "Stop squirming will you!" Kensei huffed. Shuhei nodded and tried to obey. He had taken a good hit to the nose today. When he trained with the others he started to use his zanpakuto, trying to communicate with it. It had been a few years since Kisuke had given it to him, he was hoping to have been able to communicate with the spirit long ago. The others told him it will come in time.

Shuhei enjoyed training with them, but there were some disadvantages. Kensei, Mashiro, and Hiyori never took it easy on him. The only time they would pull any punches or kicks was when it was clear that there was nothing Shuhei could do about it, and even then Hachi had ended up healing a few broken bones. Kisuke and Shinji were not much nicer, however neither of them had broken anything as of yet. It was the same for Yoruichi when she randomly appeared. Love, Lisa, Hachi, Tessai, and Rose were a little more constructive. They would give Shuhei openings and opportunities to help build his confidence as well as skills.

While they would use their zanpakuto, it would remain sealed. None of them had ever used their hollow masks either. Shuhei knew it was because they didnt' want to overwhelm him until he got the basics. His hakuda skills were improving greatly, thanks to Kensei and Mashiro. His skills in hoho were also improving thanks to Yoruichi and Kisuke. Tessai and Hachi had even began teaching him kido since he was getting stronger reiatsu. However while he was gaining skills as a swordsman, he had no zanjutsu skills since he couldn't communicate with the blade.

"What's wrong?" Kensei asked. Shuhei knew the older man had learned to read him like a book.

"I'm not improving." he said. Kensei scoffed.

"Please kid, if you were in the gotie thirteen we'd probably assign you as a nineteenth or eighteenth seat by now." Kensei said. Shuhei scowled. Normally he would be ecstatic he got any praise from Kensei, but that wasn't what he was getting at right now.

"I mean I can't talk to the zanpakuto." he said. Kensei sighed.

"Look kid, it's not something that you can force." he said. Shuhei gave him a hopeful look.

"Maybe if you tell me how you did it..." he started but Kensei had started laughing.

"I told you everything my teachers in the academy told me. That's all anyone can tell you Shuhei. After that it's all up to you. It's one of those things you gotta figure out for yourself and no one can help you with." he said. Shuhei nodded with a sigh. Kensei ruffled his hair and left the room.

xxxx

Shuhei sat in the training grounds, staring at the blade across his knees. "You're still down here?" he looked up to see Love had also stayed after the day's training. Shuhei nodded as the larger man sat next to him. "Kensei probably started dinner already." Love said. It was an odd thing to see Shuhei not in the kitchen with Kensei around cooking times, Shuhei knew that. In fact after training he was usually with someone, learning something new.

"I just, I wanted to work on something." Shuhei said. He looked up at Love, wondering why the man was still there. He frowned as he remembered Love and Rose both expressing frustration earlier. While the others were now at a good thirty seconds with their masks, minus Mashiro who was well into fifteen hours, they were both topping out at fifteen and twenty seconds respectively. Shuhei wanted to do something to help him, but drawing attention to it would just make Love upset. "Actually, will you train with me?" Shuhei asked.

Love stood up and held down a hand for Shuhei, pulling the boy to his feet. "What do you wan to do?" he asked. Shuhei looked at the zanpakuto in his hands, and Love seemed to decide that was enough of an answer. He walked a few steps away from the boy before turning to face him, drawing his zanpakuto as he did.

"Ready?" Love asked. Shuhei nodded drawing his own. Love moved first, attacking. Shuhei sidestepped the attack. He knew hand to hand combat was not a strength of Love's, so he aimed a strong kick at the man's thigh. It connected, but Shuhei remained there a second too long and Love punched him with his free hand. Shuhei fell to the ground, but rolled to get back up. Love smirked and moved at him again. Shuhei blocked the attack and used leverage to force Love to lower the blade. "Not bad." Love said. He then stepped forward, forcing Shuhei to either back up or risk falling to the ground. Shuhei jumped back, separating the two.

Love attacked again. Shuhei dodged the attack and tried to counter, but was blocked by Love. "Let's try something different. Crush down, Tengumaru." Shuhei used shunpo to gain some distance and watched as the blade turned into a large spiked kanabo. The weapon looked like it would kill him in an instant.

'Stop shaking fledgling, the enemy can see your scared.' a furious voice yelled. Shuhei didn't recognize that voice at all. He looked around, trying to figure out where it came from. 'Where are you looking idiot?! Don't you know my voice by now? You should, I've been screaming at you for months.' The voice continued. Shuhei couldn't understand where it was coming from.

"You alright? What are you looking for Shuhei?" Love asked. Shuhei looked back at Love, confused. How did he not hear the voice? It was if only Shuhei could hear it. If that was the case, the voice may actually belong to his zanpakuto.

'Finally figured it out! Here I am stuck with an idiot for a master.' the voice hissed. Shuhei scowled, feeling the spirit took that a little far. He looked back up at Love, who looked like he was contemplating something. Then the man reached up for his face and brought his hand down, a hollow mask forming. Shuhei froze. He thought of when he saw Shinji loose control all that time ago and hurt Kensei and the others.

Suddenly Love was gone. Shuhei couldn't sense or see him. 'Behind you you dumbass!' the voice screamed. Shuhei threw himself onto the ground an rolled to the side. He felt the ground shake and looked to see Love's weapon planted in the ground a few feet away. Did Love loose control somehow? Shuhei was afraid. He gathered as much reishi under him as he could to move away. He just had to outlast Love by fifteen seconds. 'To slow.' the voice yelled again. Love appeared over him. Shuhei kicked up, landing a hard blow behind Love's knee. Love went down as well.

'If you call my name I can end this is a second." the voice yelled. Shuhei glanced at the blade. He'd call it's name if he knew what it was! 'You haven't been listening?! Fine my name is...' Shuhei glared, he didn't catch the name. 'Really?! Fine I'll tell you again, it's...' Shuhei felt frustration grow. 'Guess you can't hear that yet.' The spirit hissed. Shuhei looked over at Love to see the mask crack. He let out a relieved breath as the mask shattered and disintegrated.

Shuhei took a few cautious steps toward Love, but the man didn't get up. "Seventeen seconds." he said after a few seconds. Shuhei stopped, confused. Then he realized Love said that he had his mask for seventeen seconds! Despite how afraid he was a few seconds ago, Shuhei found himself smiling. He sat down beside Love.

"That's great niisan!" he said. Love sighed.

"Sorry Shuhei, I tried." he said. Shuhei gave him a confused look. "I thought you were talking to your zanpakuto, so I figured if I put you in a situation both of you thought you could die in, you'd learn it's name." Love said. Shuhei blinked in surprise. Then he grinned again.

"That's good. I was afraid you lost control. I was talking to him. I finally heard his voice. I wasn't able to get his name though." Shuhei said, getting sadder as he spoke. Love nodded.

"Well, I guess we both made progress." he said.

A second later Kisuke, Yoruichi, Tessai, Kensei, Shinji, Hiyori, Lisa, Hachi, Rose, and Mashiro arrived, looking around alarmed. Shuhei hadn't even realized Yoruichi was back again.

"What happened?" Shinji asked. Shuhei and Love looked at each other. The others wouldn't take the idea of Love using a shikai and his mask in a spar against Shuhei well.

"Neesan was showing me his shikai and his mask!" Shuhei said quickly. The others scowled, already suspecting exactly what happened.

"Why?" Kensei asked, a tone that said it better not be what they all knew it was.

"I asked him too." Shuhei said, a little sheepishly. The others looked between the two. They decided not to push the issue, especially when the two looked so happy.

"Fine, dinner's done. Come eat." Kensei said.


	13. Reminicing

Shuhei glared at the blade resting across his lap, as if it would cause the spirit to talk to him sooner. Shuhei tried everything he could think of, but in the last few months he had not heard the blade's voice again. He didn't know how he could reach it. He tried talking to it politely, he tried asking it to help him protect the others, he even tried demanding it to speak to him, but nothing happened.

"Hachi, what are you doing?" Shuhei's attention was brought to the others. Kensei and Shinji were sparing together as Love and Rose were going at it, and Lisa was trading off with Yoruichi, who was oddly around. Tessai and Kisuke stood to the side in case they needed to intervene. Shuhei thought Hachi was doing the same thing, however he was a little more off to the side and sitting down staring at something in his lap. Hiyori was currently standing in front of the large man, scowling at him.

"Nothing of..." Hachi started but a loud meow cut through the training area, causing the others to pause. Shuhei had known about Hachi taking in cats for a while now, he even helped Hachi sneak them around a few times. Hachi had told them the others didn't approve, but he loved the creatures. They were so calm most of the time an it brought him a level of peace.

"Oh hell no! We're not having another incident like that last one!" Hiyori screamed. Shuhei was confused.

"What was the incident?" he asked. Shinji chuckled.

"Oh that takes me back!" he said.

"Indeed. How long has it been? A few decades?" Love asked. Rose also started to laugh. Kensei meanwhile glared at them.

"It's not funny!" he roared. Shuhei was even more curious now.

"What happened?" he insisted. Lisa turned to him.

"Hachi really likes cats, so when we were in the Seiretei he used to rescue all the strays he found. No one really minded since that was his business, but one day when he went to feed the cats the door to their room didn't get shut in time." she said.

"There were kitties everywhere!" Mashiro sang.

"About shut down the entire Seiretei for the day." Love said.

"All the divisions were sent out to help recover the vast number of cats that ran around the Seiretei. Took nearly two days to get them all under control again." Kisuke said. Yoruichi scowled.

"It would have only taken me an hour or two, but somebody thought I was one of the pets and locked me in a cage." Yoruichi said, glaring at Shinji. Shinji scratched the back of his head nervously.

"You're never going to let that go are you? I said I was sorry." he said. Shuhei couldn't help it, he started to laugh. It was hilarious. He was curious if any other events like that had happened.

"Hey, what was it like being in the Gotie Thirteen?" Shuhei asked. The others gave him odd looks. He didn't blame them, after all they had been together for a long time now and he was only just now asking them. Shinji shrugged.

"It was a job Shuhei. We got up early, did some physical training, then wen to the office and worked for the day. At the end of the day we got released." he said. Shuhei looked amazed.

"Really?!" he asked. Kensei smirked.

"Why, what did you imagine kid?" he asked. Shuhei looked down a little red.

"I just figured you all stayed in tents and trained all the time." Shuhei admitted. He felt embarrassed saying it. The others took a moment to digest the words he said, then they all started to laugh. Shuhei turned even redder.

"Well your assessment isn't entirely wrong per say. During field exercises we could go stay in tents and run drills." Hachi said. Shuhei looked up at him, relieved that he didn't sound like a complete idiot. "They are always interesting. The fall and spring exercises weren't that bad but..." he started.

"Hey Kensei, remember that exercise we did in the summer? A lot of people passed out from the heat so we had to stop training during the hottest parts of the day." Mashiro said. Kensei nodded with a grimace. He still recalled the stern lecture he got from old man Yamamoto and Unohana over that.

"Winter was hard too. It was so cold that at night the men would form small huddles around the camp fire." Rose said.

"Yeah, but it gave them a chance to talk, and honestly those exercises helped keep us trained." Love said. Kisuke smiled fondly.

"True, but they also helped people create friendships and bonds they wouldn't have otherwise. After all when you're all suffering, your suffering together." he said. Shuhei had never thought of it like that, but their group was living proof before his very eyes.

"Some people even turn them into games and competitions." Yoruichi said, giving Kensei and Love a smug grin. Kensei scowled.

"It's not my fault, that idiot started it." he said. Shuhei was completely lost again.

"Idiot?" he asked. Love looked down at him.

"The eleventh taichou, the one before the current one. He told me and Kensei that our divisions were nothing compared to his." he said. Shuhei nodded in understanding. "It was a war game, a three way battle between the eleventh, ninth, and seventh." Love explained. Shuhei's eyes lit up, imagining that Kensei easily crushed the two other sides.

"Kensei-niisan won right?" he asked. Kensei scowled and the others laughed. Shuhei's face fell, figuring that meant no.

"No, Kenpachi kicked his ass." Love said. Kensei scowled at him.

"Why are you talking all high and mighty, you were completely annihilated first." Kensei hissed. The cocky grin on Love's face went away instantly.

"But Me and Kensei won the next one." Mashiro said. Shuhei looked at her.

"Oh yeah. I remember that." Rose said.

"What? What happened?" Shuhei asked. To be honest the others never really talked like this before. They were all smiling and looked the happiest Shuhei had truly ever seen them. He didn't want them to ever stop. Not only that but the military they were describing was nothing like Shuhei had imagined. It sounded much more fun.

"The fourth fukutaichou, Seinosuke Yamada, tried a cooking contest with Kensei." Tessai explained. Shuhei looked up at Kensei.

"The entire fourth and ninth division got to be there. The two spent the lunch break cooking. They had to make enough for all the members of both divisions to have some. The division members voted, but their vote was just for fun. Kensei won that. When the suotaichou heard about it he insisted on helping to judge. He, Unohana-taichou, and Ukitake-taichou were the official judges. Even then though, Kensei won." Kisuke said.

"There was a bet too wasn't there?" Hiyori asked. Kensei nodded.

"If he won I had to cook for his division for a week, and when I won he had to personally to see to all the medical needs of my division for a week." Kensei said. Shuhei chuckled.

"Remember the base ball tournament?" Yoruichi asked. Shinji sighed.

"It'll be a while before I can forget that." he huffed.

"Tournament?" Shuhei asked. He didn't know what Base ball was, but apparently it was something you could compete in.

"Every year as part of the new year celebration, there is some kin of competition that the different organizations can participate in. The last time we did it was base ball." Hachi explained.

"I'll teach you sometime." Love offered. Shuhei gave him an awed look.

"Really niisan?" he asked. Love nodded.

"We all will. Anyway, the thirteen division and the kido corps had set up a tournament. The onmitsukido played with the second division." Shinji explained.

"My division beat the first and the twelveth!" Love said proudly. Kisuke gave a disappointed sigh and Hiyori snarled at the larger man.

"You only got lucky! You beat us by a single point!" she yelled. Lisa sighed.

"You should accept defeat gracefully." she softly scolded.

"What are you talking about, you guys didn't even make it past the first round! At least we beat the tenth division!" she yelled pointing at Lisa, Rose, Hachi, and Tessai. Lisa shrugged.

"I really didn't care, and what could you expect when the second and onmitsukido specialize in speed?" Lisa asked. Hachi and Tessai also looked a little disappointed.

"The eleventh gave us a little bit more of a challenge then we were expecting." Hachi said.

"Well Kensei and Mashiro put together an amazing team. It couldn't be helped." Rose said as he brushed back his hair.

"Didn't you loose pretty quick too Shinji?" Lisa asked. Shinji scowled.

"Hey, we beat the fourth division." he defended himself.

"But you lost to us!" Mashiro sang. Love sighed.

"Yeah, we did too. You guys made it to the finale round didn't you?" Love asked. Kensei grimaced.

"Yeah we did, but..." he trailed off only for Yoruichi to start laughing in a way that sent shivers up Shuhei's spine.

"Yoruichi's team beet the eighth, sixth, eleventh, and the ninth. They won the tournament." Kisuke explained to Shuhei. Shuhei found himself chuckling.

"Did you do stuff like that a lot?" he asked. The others thought for a moment.

"You mean competitions? It wasn't always like that." Lisa said.

"Right, remember the band I set up? We played in the chow halls every night." Rose said. Shinji smiled.

"It was nice to always have music while we ate." he said.

"What about the parties? My fukutaichou Jin'emon Kotsubaki had a birthday so me and the other officers took him out drinking! He got so drunk and we couldn't send him back to his son Sentaro like that so we just let him sleep it off in the seventh barracks." Love said with a laugh. Lisa sighed.

"They weren't all like that. When Nanao's birthday passed we had some cake and I gave her a book." Lisa said. Shuhei gave them a stunned look.

"So you guys have parties too!" he realized. The others snickered again.

"Of course Shuhei. It was both our jobs and our lives to be shinigami. If it's all fighting and work then we wouldn't be effective at all. We had to have fun too." Kisuke said.

"Hey, hey, remember Ukitake's moon viewing festival?" Mashiro asked. The others smiled.

"Yes, that was indeed a disaster." Hachi mused.

"A disaster?" Shuhei asked. They all nodded.

"My taichou got drunk before the festival even started. He started flirting with Chikane." Nanao said.

"He even started crying when she told him she had a son, poor Tetsuzeamon, he's gotta put up with a lot having a mother like her around." Love laughed.

"It's also were Kensei, Love, and Kenpachi started fighting that led to the exercise war game." Mashiro spoke up. Kensei and Love both glared at her.

"The Suotaichou had to come end it before things got too far out of hand." Hiyori said. Shuhei was enchanted by the stories.

"It sounds like a lot of fun." he said. The others faces fell at that.

"There were some good times, but there were also some bad." Tessai said. Shuhei was confused again.

"What do you mean?" he asked. Kensei sat down so that he was on the same level as the boy.

"Look kid, we were soldiers, we fought, went out on missions, and people didn't always come back." he said. Shuhei felt his eyes grow wide. He thought of the hollow that attacked him in the forest and how Kensei and his men jumped right into the fight. He thought about Kensei's men, the ten in the advanced party and the three who were with him, who were all now dead.

"A few years before we left the tenth taichou and fukutaichou were killed in battle. There was a lovely memorial service for them." Rose said.

"Kenpachi was killed too, and a new Kenpachi took his place." Love said. Shuhei could hear the sorrow in his voice at this. He figured the competitions between the eleventh and the seventh made for a type of friendship between them.

"I see." Shuhei said as he felt guilt start to enter him. Kensei sighed.

"Don't give me that look kid." he said.

"Shuhei, you saw what a battle was like firsthand. You of all people should understand just how easy it is for people to get killed." Shinji said.

"That's why we don't want you to fight any more then you have to. Just defeating the hollow so it won't ever take over you're body. That's all you need to do." Mashiro said.

xxx

Shuhei sat looking at the katana long after the others headed to bed, thinking about their words. They looked so crestfallen at the end, which hurt even more after thinking about how happy they had been just moments before. Shuhei felt bad. He felt bad because even though they were all suffering and wished that Aizen had never betrayed them, Shuhei had a small amount of happiness over it. He got to meet them, he got to live with them. They were his family. He felt guilty that he could be happy over something that brought them all so much pain.

At the same time he hated Aizen, Gin, and Tosen for what they did. How could they just betray people they had shared such good and bad times with. Those stories that made the others light up so much, had they meant absolutely nothing to the people that betrayed them? Shuhei felt a bubble of anger well up from inside him. He wanted to make them pay for what they did to his family. He knew the others didn't want him to fight but he didn't really care about that right now. He wanted to help them take down the men that destroyed all their lives.

A loud cackle sounded around him. Shuhei jumped a little, having not expected that at all. 'It's about time! So you finally can hear my voice!' the blade sang.

 **Hey everyone! Sorry it's been so long! I was really busy. This chapter was actually so much fun for me to write. I even put some of my own military experiences into it. The cooking contest, the base ball game, the birthdays, those were things that really happened. Two of the sergeants got into a cooking contest with a wager on the line and my whole section had to serve as the judges for their cooking contest during our lunch break.** Then, **while it wasn't base ball, we have a yearly foot ball game for the holidays. This year we only had two teams and they tied. We didn't go into overtime because of thanksgiving dinner. Hahaha. The memorial service is also something we've done too. Anyway, next chapter will pick up where this one left off. Welcome** **KCain,** **ichigokourasaki0666,** **DawningDuskFallingStar,** **tkyjk,** **Kiddiluna, and thank you for the reviews Guest and** **Little Miss Apocalypse! I hope you all continue to like it.**


	14. Kazeshini

_A loud cackle sounded around him. Shuhei jumped a little, having not expected that at all. 'It's about time! So you finally can hear my voice!' the blade sang._

Shuhei moved back a little bit, the spirits voice giving him chills. "You say that like it's my fault." he challenged. The spirit cackled again, like it was amused.

'Exactly.' he said in a simple tone. The boy ground his teeth together.

"How is it my fault, I tried to talk to you constantly." Shuhei hissed. The spirit was laughing again and Shuhei was starting to feel like he didn't like it at all.

'It's because we had nothing in common, until now that is.' he said. Shuhei paused, completely puzzled by the response he received.

"What does that mean?" he asked.

'How did I end up with such a stupid master? It means at this moment we both want to do the same thing. We both want to take lives.' he said. Shuhei really did drop the blade to the floor this time and move back from it. He was horrified.

"I...I don't want to take any lives!" he yelled at the blade. The spirit laughed again, a sound Shuhei now found that he despised.

'Really? Weren't you just so angry at those three men for betraying your family that you wanted to kill them? Admit it, you want them to die, to be torn to pieces.' The spirit said. Shuhei couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"That's not true at all!" he screamed. The spirit didn't believe him. Shuhei wasn't sure how he knew that, but he could feel it.

'It's because we share a soul idiot.' The spirit said. Shuhei stood up. 'I know how you truly feel. Our souls are linked.' he said. Shuhei took a small step back. 'I was created by your desire to destroy those who you were too weak to fight. When you and I can finally talk normally I will tell you my name. Then we can reap as many lives as we want.' the spirit said. Shuhei couldn't take this anymore. There was no way this blood thirsty demon was his sword, it couldn't be. 'Don't bother denying it, it's just the way things are.' Shuhei turned and ran.

He shunpoed up to the main floor and ran to the room he shared with Shinji and Kensei. He needed to talk to someone. He ran into the room, not even bothering to keep the door from slamming into the wall. Both men were immediately awake, and if Shuhei had been thinking he would have realized that may have woken up the entire house.

"What the Fu...Shuhei?!" Kensei hissed before turning a surprised look onto the boy. Shuhei felt a tear roll down his face. Had the spirit really scared him that much that he started to cry?! Kensei and Shinji exchanged a look, and with it a silent conversation. Shinji nodded as if he got some unspoken order before getting up and leaving the room, pulling the door shut behind him. "Shuhei, what's going on?" Kensei asked.

Kensei was actually concerned. Shuhei hadn't been this shaken up in middle of the night since the nightmares had been bothering him. Kensei hoped those wouldn't return. That had been hard on everyone. Shuhei was shaking though, so whatever happened had him pretty riled up.

"I...I heard the zanpakuto's voice." he said. Kensei raised an eyebrow. That was technically a good thing if he was finally able to communicate with his weapon, yet he seemed completely devastated by it. "Th...there's no way that spirit could come from my soul...it's...it's too terrifying..." Shuhei said, then he sank to the ground, wrapping his arms around his legs. With a heavy sigh Kensei got out of his bed and walked over to Shuhei. He grabbed the boy by his arm and pulled him to his feet. He dragged Shuhei over to Shuhei's bed and sat the boy down on it before sitting down as well. He adjusted himself so he could face Shuhei.

"Alright, what happened?" he asked.

"The zanpakuto...he said he wanted to kill, to tear people apart." Shuhei said. Kensei raised his eyebrow even more. "He said he wants to reap as many lives as he can. He sounds like a demon." Shuhei said. Kensei folded his arms. It sounded like Shuhei had a rather fickle spirit indeed. Being honest with himself, Kensei wasn't really surprised. Without even counting being in hiding, Shuhei hadn't had it easy. Growing up in the rukongai was hard on anyone. It seemed what happened is that while Shuhei was always polite and kind, at least a part of his soul desired revenge for what had happened to him. A part of him, most likely a part Shuhei viciously tried to keep repressed at all times, just wanted to avenge every moment of suffering he had. That was the part the zanpakuto managed to resonate with.

"I see. Sounds like you ended up with an interesting partner." Kensei actually laughed. Shuhei gave him a furious look.

"This isn't funny niisan!" he yelled. Kensei stopped laughing.

"You're right, it's not. You finally can connect with your partner and you run away from him." he said. Shuhei looked down, feeling guilty. It felt like Kensei had just turned this around to make Shuhei out to be the bad one. "Sorry kid." Kensei groaned, sounding a little guilty himself. He took a deep breath, either to calm himself or to brace himself. Shuhei knew Kensei was frustrated with him now, and he was sure Kensei knew what he was about to say next would upset the boy.

"Did I screw up?" Shuhei asked, deciding to say it before Kensei did.

"Who knows, but just like how you had been trying to reach him this whole time, he's been trying to reach you. Now that you're voices finally meet you just leave him and run away." Kensei said. Shuhei looked at the wall behind Kensei, finding it suddenly much more interesting then he ever did before.

"I didn't mean to just abandon him...he was just so terrifying." the boy cried. Kensei sighed.

"Look kid, it's fine to be afraid every so often, but if you let it rule you like you are now then your going to leave a lot of important things behind. When you run from the things that your afraid of, not only are you giving them an opening to attack you, but now they can get past you and to everything behind you." Kensei said. Shuhei turned a confused look onto Kensei.

"Everything behind me?" he asked. Kensei nodded.

"Like that day you ran from Tosen. You showed him your back, and he took it. If your friends had been with you that day you would have just let him go right after them." Kensei said. The horrified look on Shuhei's face immediately made Kensei backpedal, feeling like he drove his point too far home. "Look, your still a kid so it's fine, but if you want to keep that hollow from taking over your body and from attacking other people you're going to have to face it. Not only that but your going to need help, and like it or not but that terrifying spirit that you just left behind in the training grounds is the only one who can help you when you need to face the hollow." Kensei said.

Shuhei looked at the bed cover. Kensei was right there. He would need the spirit's help. If Shuhei couldn't face the hollow in his soul then the others were in constant danger from it. They were the ones behind him that Shuhei couldn't let the hollow get to. Shuhei looked up at Kensei again. "Will you go back down with me?" he asked. He had to talk to the spirit. Kensei sighed, sounding annoyed, but he nodded. The two stood up and headed toward the training grounds.

As they headed down the stairs Shuhei saw the others were all talking in the common area of their home. So that door had woken everyone up after all. It looked like Shinji was explaining what was going on, at least the little details that he knew. Ignoring them the two jumped down the trap door. Shuhei walked over the the discarded zanpakuto, picking it up.

'Your back you asshole. That was freaking rude.' Shuhei almost chuckled at how the first thing the spirit did was chastise him.

'I couldn't help it, you were saying such horrible things.' Shuhei told the spirit back. He felt calmer now, most likely due to Kensei standing behind him.

'I didn't say anything that wasn't true for both of us.' the spirit huffed. Shuhei sighed.

'It isn't true, but that doesn't matter right now. I need your help.' he said. The spirit scoffed.

'That isn't how you ask for a favor asshole. You haven't even asked me my name yet, I have no reason to help you.' the spirit snapped. Shuhei frowned.

'That's true. My name is Hisagi Shuhei, what is your name?' he asked. He knew there was probably no point in telling the spirit his name. After all he probably already knew, even if he chose not to use it.

'Oh now you want to know?' the spirit scoffed. Shuhei sighed.

'Please?' he tried. The spirit sighed.

'Kazeshini.' he said.

"Kazeshini?!" Shuhei asked. Even the name itself involved death! Kensei had a hug grin spread across his face, as if he was either proud Shuhei could hear the name, amused at the name, or a combination of both.

'Yeah, so you can finally hear it huh. Took you long enough.' The spirit sulked. Shuhei nodded.

'I'm not going to let you run wild and kill everyone Kazeshini, but I need your help.' Shuhei said. He felt spikes of anger radiate from the blade.

'Why the hell should I help you? You have given me no reason to.' Kazeshini hissed. Shuhei nodded.

'You're right, but if you don't help me then we both could die.' he said.

 **Alright, so part 2 is done for that segment. Shuhei can finally talk to Kazeshini, however they don't really get along. Nice to meet you** **Sunnystar9 and** **Leetah251! I hope you continue to read this!  
**


	15. Inner World

Shuhei glared at Kazeshini. Once again after a long discussion that was mostly just them arguing they were ending it with no actual resolution to the problem at hand. Shuhei had been trying for a few weeks, but they just thought too differently. Shuhei was still afraid of the weapon, but he knew if he couldn't figure out something then the others could get seriously hurt. "Stupid Kazeshini." he hissed.

"That's not very nice now." Shuhei looked up at Hachi, not really surprised but not having expected him either.

"He's not trying to work with me." Shuhei huffed. Hachi smiled.

"Are you saying that you are trying to work with him?" Hachi asked. Shuhei started to say yes but Hachi gave him one of his rare stern looks and Shuhei fell silent. Maybe he was trying too hard to be the one in control. "Tell you what, you've been working at this for a long time, why don't we go out for the day?" Hachi asked. Shuhei looked up at him in surprise.

"Really?!" he asked. He liked going out with Hachi, since he and Lisa would always get Shuhei a new book. He had just gotten his own short story draft back from Kensei and wanted to get new inspiration for the next one. Hachi nodded. Shuhei gave him an excited nod, agreeing to go. They both placed their zanpakuto near the ladder and headed up into the shop.

"Oh Shuhei, would you mind getting some things from the storage room?" Kisuke asked when he saw the boy came in. Shuhei felt himself deflate a little. If it wasn't one thing it was another. He figured he would have to get that book another day.

"Actually Urahara-san, I'm taking Shuhei with me." Hachi said politely. The shopkeeper seemed surprised for a moment, then he nodded and turned to call Tessai. Hachi gave Shuhei a smile and then gestured to the door. Shuhei nearly ran out. He could hear the three men chuckle behind him. Shuhei knew they all still saw him as a small child. Hell he still looked like a small child. Hachi soon followed him.

The two walked through the market street, Shuhei controlling himself from darting from stall to stall. He liked the afternoons when the various shops would bring some of their merchandise outside to attract in more customers. He finally found on who had books and started to sift through them. Hachi stood by patiently watching.

A loud hollow call sounded out and Shuhei looked up at Hachi, nervous. "Maybe we should head back." Hachi said. Shuhei nodded and went to follow him when a dull pain went through his body. He paused, trying to figure out what just happened. "Shuhei..." started Hachi, but it happened again. Then the world seemed to spin around him. Shuhei didn't know what was going on. He closed his eyes, trying to get things to return to normal. After a few seconds he opened his eyes and looked up.

Hachi was no where to be seen, and he wasn't in the market either. rather he was in a large forest. Shuhei looked around, confused. "Uhm...hello?" he called. A rustling of the bushes behind him made him tense. He turned towards it, but didn't see anything. A rustling came from another direction. Shuhei felt fear building up in his gut. Something wasn't right. He took a step back when something lurched out of the bush.

Shuhei put a hand up to shield himself when something snagged around his waist and pulled him up into the air. He gasped in shock as he landed on a branch high in a nearby tree. Looking down he could see whatever had attacked him had disappeared back into the brush. He reached for whatever snagged his waist to find a black chain wrapped around him. "What is this?" he asked, confused.

"Stupid fledglings, just stand around when something attacks you why don't you? Dumbass." Kazeshini's voice hissed from nearby. Shuhei looked up toward the voice to see a dark hairy demon like creature. He felt a cold wave wash over him and he could easily see how Kazeshini's frightening voice could come from this form.

"Kazeshini...what was that?" Shuhei asked, looking back down to try and fin whatever attacked him. Kazeshini scoffed.

"That was the hollow. It saw an opportunity and tried to take your body. I've stopped it a few times now, but it's getting closer each time." the spirit sneered. Shuhei felt like the spirit saving him was a little out of character, but then again it was probably the self preservation in the zanpakuto that would cause such an act.

"I see. Where are we? Why are you able to be here?" Shuhei asked. Kazeshini scoffed.

"You really are a stupid fledgling. Tell me, have you forgotten all those stories of your inner world that the others have been telling you about?" the spirit asked. Shuhei looked around in awe.

"So this is my inner world?" he asked. He heard a dramatic sigh from the spirit, as if it was exasperated for having to deal with such a slow soul. Shuhei suddenly had a thought. "Wait, what's going on with my body and niisan?!" Shuhei realized. Kazeshini rolled his eyes.

"Your just unconscious for right now, he's probably moving you away from people." he said. Shuhei nodded, feeling better by that answer. He looked back toward the hollow.

"Should be fight it?" he asked. Kazeshini let out a high pitched screech of laughter.

"You, fight it? I don't have a death wish dumbass." he said. Shuhei frowned. "Personally I wouldn't care if something happened to you, but I have too much to do to let that thing end us now. I don't think your gonna get much choice soon anyway. It's stronger now and it's ready to try and kill you. Every time you use your reiatsu it's going to start looking for chances." Kazeshini cautioned. Shuhei nearly stopped breathing. "What the hell are you scared for? You knew that was going to happen sooner or later." Kazeshini mocked.

"So what do we do?" Shuhei asked. Kazeshini shrugged.

"Do I look like the master of this body?" he asked. Shuhei closed his eyes, trying to calm his thoughts. "Oi, better think of something. That hollows going to be coming back." Kazashini said. Shuhei opened his eyes again before looking at Kazeshini.

"Can I ask you something? What is that?" he asked, looking at the weapon the spirit held. It was a single weapon, a metal pole with two blades of either end. It looked like the grim reaper scythe he had seen in the books and it made him afraid. It was like a weapon that was meant to end life itself. As Shuhei's eyes followed it, he saw there was a chain on the bottom that was part of the chain still wrapped around him.

"Little late to be asking that but it's my weapon. It's a Kusarigama." he said. The chain was pulled free from around Shuhei and Kazeshini yanked on it, producing a second weapon just like the first from bellow the tree and back to his hand. Shuhei hadn't seen a kusarigama like it before but decided not to comment on it.

"So that would be my shikai right?" he asked. Kazeshini laughed again.

"That's assuming we can get along long enough for you to fight." he said. Shuhei looked down from the branch again.

"Well, we both don't want to die, does that count?" he asked. Kazeshini laughed again, this time sounding genuinely amused.

"You're not the dumbest there is I suppose. Guess that'll have to work." the spirit said. Shuhei nodded.

"I guess now is as good of a time as any." he said.

 **Hey everyone! Thank you so much** **DetectiveBiggs98 and DiabloDH3 for the reviews! They made me really happy! Also nice to meet you Ikiryo Zetsumei, fenrir65489, PrismaticGeistBat, Ship-the-ships-I-ship,** **DemiWizardPercabeth, and No life king 88! I hope you all continue to stay with me for it XD.  
**


	16. Facing the hollow

Hachi rushed into the shop, holding the unconscious child as gently as he could. "Hachi...what the hell is going on?!" Kensei was on his feet first as he and the others saw Shuhei. Hachi looked down at him.

"I'm not really sure. We were shopping when a hollow screamed and he suddenly passed out." Hachi explained. Kisuke stood up.

"I see, we must get him down stairs quickly." he said. Hachi nodded and followed the shopkeeper, the others right behind him. They all were worried. Shuhei hadn't had any major issues with his hollow yet, and they were all hoping that it would stay that way. Unfortunately the hollow decided to use this moment as a good opportunity to shatter that piece of mind. They reached the training ground and Tessai and Hachi set up a barrier around Shuhei.

"What's going to happen?" Hiyori asked. Kisuke shook his head.

"I'm not really sure. Either the hollow is going to attempt to take over his body and Shuhei is going to have to fight it, or it may just be a false alarm." he said. Lisa moved up to the barrier.

"Hachi, let me in. I'll sit with him and if something goes wrong I can be there to help." she decided. Hachi nodded and opened a small doorway. Mashiro grabbed Kensei's arm, biting her lip.

"He'll be fine." Kensei said. The others weren't completely sure, but the way Kensei said it he sounded completely confident. Shuhei didn't want to leave them so he would be back.

xxx

"Don't do that you idiot! You'll kill yourself." Kazeshini hissed. Shuhei frowned and he looked down at the chain in his hands.

"It's not my fault, you haven't let me use it before!" he yelled. Kazeshini rolled his eyes.

"I'm not supposed to just let you you brat. I'm supposed to force you to figure it out on your own." he said. Shuhei paused at that. He really didn't know if that was true or if Kazeshini was trying to cover up how he was an asshole. He scowled.

"Then help me this time and tell me how to do this!" he said. Kazeshini let out a high pitched laugh. This kid was hilarious, but then again he was just that, a kid. The zanpakuto reached over and pulled the weapon from the boys hands.

"If you ever want to face that hollow you need to learn how to use this." he said, he began spinning one of the weapons by the chain. Shuhei watched him carefully. The weapon spun around a few times before it went flying off toward a nearby tree with a flick of Kazeshini's wrist. Shuhei watched it wrap around a tree branch before Kazeshini pulled it tight, causing the blade to catch around the chain. Shuhei then watched as he snapped the chain, throwing the weapon up and back over the tree branch, unwinding it. The blade fell toward the ground but then caught on the chain and swung back towards their tree. Kazeshini yanked on the chain in an upwards motion, bringing the weapon spinning back to his hand.

"How did you do that?!" Shuhei asked in awe. Kazeshini rolled his eyes.

"I practiced. Something you should have been doing." he scolded. Shuhei looked down. He knew the spirit had a point, but he didn't know how to use his shikai to have practiced.

"When my niisans and neesans use theirs they each have a command before they say the weapons' name. What's the one for you?" he asked. Kazeshini chuckled, knowing Shuhei wouldn't like it.

"Reap." he said. Sure enough the boy gave him a wide eyed look. "What did you expect dumbass. You describe it as something that is meant to take lives, you even thought it looked like a grim reapers scythe from the fairy tales." he said. Shuhei turned red.

"I never said that!" he said quickly. Kazeshini rolled his eyes again.

"I'm part of your soul, I know exactly what your thinking." he snapped. Shuhei sighed, this bickering wasn't getting them anywhere.

"Fine, so whenever I want to use your shikai I say 'Reap Kazeshini'?" he asked, wanting to clarify. Kazeshini groaned.

"Are all humans this slow?" he asked. Shuhei thought about snapping at Kazeshini but determined that would be more counterproductive right now. "I wouldn't think that. At least then you have a personality." the zanpakuto hissed. Shuhei ground his teeth together.

"Whatever!" Shuhei hissed, trying to move on.

xxx

Lisa looked down at the boy's unconscious form. "Here." she looked up to see Hiyori had brought two mugs of steaming liquid. She accepted one and Hiyori sat down beside her. "Anything?" Hiyori asked. Lisa shook her head.

"No. I don't understand what is going on. If it was the hollow taking over he would be rampaging by now." Lisa said. Hiyori thought too.

"Maybe it's his zanpakuto?" she suggested. Lisa thought for a moment.

"Would that make him unconscious like this?" she asked. Hiyori shrugged.

"How the hell should I know? Aren't you supposed to be smart?" she asked. Lisa turned an amused look to her.

"Weren't you part of the top leadership of the Department of Research and Development?" she countered. Hiyori snarled. "Scientists are supposed to be smart too. Then again if Urahara doesn't know what is going on then I don't expect any of us too." she said. Hiyroi make an angry noise at that. "How long has it been already?" she asked before sipping her coffee.

"A few hours now." Hiyori said, also taking a sip. The two looked back at Shuhei again. "This is complete bullshit!" Hiyori finally snarled. Lisa nodded. She would have phrased it much more elegantly, but Hiyori's brash language was a perfect way to sum it all up. "Is all we can do really just sitting here?" she yelled.

xxx

Shuhei looked up. He could have sworn he heard voices but he wasn't too sure. "Pay attention dumbass!" Shuhei turned back to Kazeshini just in time to see a blade spinning toward him. He ducked out of the way and heard the 'thunk' as it planted into the tree behind him. He smirked at Kazeshini, taunting him for missing him. Kazeshini gave him a cocky grin before yanking on the chain. Shuhei realized what happened too late as the blade cut into his shoulder before spinning back into Kazeshini's hand.

"That hurt." he growled, grabbing his shoulder.

"It was supposed to." Kazeshini said simply. Suddenly the entire world seemed to shake, like an earthquake had hit.

"Wha..." Shuhei started. Kazeshini made a 'tch' sound.

"Looks like the hollow finally realized no one was controlling your body. He's making his move." he said. Shuhei looked at Kazeshini in horror.

"What do we do?" he asked. Kazeshini shrugged.

xxx

"What the hell is going on?!" Love yelled as both Hiyori and Lisa leaped to their feet. Shuhei's shoulder had suddenly started to bleed and they looked at each other, wondering what to do. Suddenly Shuhei began moving, getting to his feet slowly.

"Shu..." started Lisa but Hiyori grabbed her and pulled her back.

"That's not Shuhei!" she yelled. A white hollow mask began forming on the boy. It looked kind of like a weasel. A burst of reiatsu came from his body, creating a strong wind within the barrier. Lisa and Hiyori looked at each other before each drawing their zanpakuto.

xxx

"Oi! Where the hell do you think your going?" Kazeshini yelled. Shuhei had jumped down out of the trees and to the forest floor.

"What does it look like?! I'm going to find that hollow." he yelled. Kazeshini scowled but jumped down after him.

"Have you ever even been in a real fight? And freezing up against that hollow when your hero came for you or being beat into the ground while trying to run don't count! This isn't exactly the best time for your first real battle." he scoffed. Shuhei ground his teeth together.

"It really doens't matter does it? He's not going to wait until I'm ready." Shuhei said. The zanpakuto rolled his eyes.

"Do what you want then, but I'm not going to come save your ass." with that he leaped back into the trees. Shuhei looked down at the katana in his hand. It would have to do.

He started running through the trees when he heard a rustling sound from the bushes. So it returned. Shuhei stood still, waiting for the hollow to make it's move. Suddenly it struck, shooting out from the bushes. Shuhei blocked it's attack and was finally able to get a good look at it. It was like a kamaitachi! The hollow burst out laughing. "So you aren't completely spineless." he hissed.

"Leave my body alone." Shuhei ordered. The hollow laughed again.

"I don't answer to you!" he yelled. Shuhei was shoved back a step and realized the creature was only messing with him. He kicked the hollow in the head causing it to stop pushing back on him for a second, then used shunpo to move a decent distance back to gain some distance. He glanced at his surroundings quickly. This would be the perfect place to use kazeshini in a fight, but he didn't understand how to use that weapon yet. It would be suicide to use a weapon he didn't understand so he'd have to rely on the simple katana.

The hollow launched himself at Shuhei, clashing again. Shuhei barley had the time to sidestep it as a deflecting measure. He watched the hollow move past him into a tree before kicking off of the tree and back at him. Shuhei stepped to the side again so it would pass harmlessly by him before the process was repeated again. This time he took a swing at the hollow. The blade was blocked but the hollow didn't attack again.

"Not bad." it chuckled before holding up it's own katana so Shuhei could see it. "Reap, Kazeshini." it growled. Shuhei was frozen in shock as the hollow now held his own shikai. Shuhei looked for a good place to move to. He hoped the hollow wasn't all that good with the weapon, but that hope was dashed from his mind as he watched the hollow spin the weapons by its chain in the same manner Kazeshini had. Then the hollow threw one of the blades at Shuhei's head. He stood watching it, not knowing what else to do.

One of Kazeshini's weapons planted itself in the ground in front of Shuhei. The attacking weapon bounced off of the new shield and back at the hollow. Kazeshini himself dropped down between the two fighters. "You're so god damned useless! If I leave this up to you then we're both going to die here." the zanpakuto snarled. Shuhei didn't let the angry words get to him, he only smiled in relief and joy. Kazeshini hadn't abandoned him. Like the others in his family, he came back. "Oi, focus on the battle." Kazeshini scolded. Shuhei nodded.

 **Hi everyone! Welcome aboard Scaunders, salut15091997, TwinDrake, Windying, and wolfeshade6! Thank you for the comments Guest and Scaunders! They made my day! Gilgamesh777, I recognize this, but for the sake of this AU I chose to ignore that. I hope you all continue to enjoy this story! Keeping with the ninth division and Shuhei wind themes, I made his hollow mask and the hollow like kamaitachi! I thought it would be cute.  
**


	17. First Victory

"Switch out." Love said as he stepped into the barrier. Both Lisa and Hiyori who were feeling a little worse for wear nodded and left the barrier. The others stood up on the edge of the barrier, watching with more concern then either could remember for any other member of their group. They all looked on edge, worried about how Shuhei was doing.

"I honestly thought we had more time." Rose said in a low voice.

"We all did." Hachi said. Hiyori bit back a laugh at that.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Shinji asked. Kensei sighed, he knew exactly what Hiyori meant by that.

"It wasn't that we thought we had more time, we ignored the fact that we knew time was running out." he said. Hiyori nodded. They had all known this was going to happen, they had all felt Shuhei's rapidly increasing reiatsu since he had started training with them. They had just ignored it. They didn't want to face that this would be happening so soon, and now Shuhei would have to face it, despite not being ready.

"He'll be fine Kensei, you even said so." Mashiro said. Kensei clenched a fist, wondering if he believed that or wanted to believe that.

xxx

"As painful as it is to say, we might just have to work together. I don't know about you but I ain't ready to die yet." Kazeshini said. Shuhei shook his head. He also wasn't' ready to die yet. He wasn't going to let the others go on their revenge march alone. Kazeshini chuckled. Maybe he and this kid really could agree on a few things every once in a while.

"I can't use your shikai yet." Shuhei pointed out. Kazeshini rolled his eyes. This idiot needed to stop announcing everything that he already knew, the enemy was able to hear him! It really didn't matter though, the hollow was just as much part of Shuhei's soul as he was, so he also knew how Shuhei felt and thought.

"I know dumbass. Just use the katana. I'll do what I can to get him trapped, then it's up to you." he said. There was no harm in announcing that plan. After all even if you know what is coming there is no benefit to it if you can't prevent it.

Kazeshini moved quickly, spinning one of the blades at the hollows head. The hollow dodged to the side and Kazeshini gave it a mad smirk. "Not so fast." he taunted, pulling the chain in a way that the weapon changed course, going directly for the hollow. It dodged again, moving closer to the trunk of a large tree. Shuhei used shunpo to get in front of the hollow and take a swing at it. The hollow blocked his attack and fled backwards, creating more space between them. He sent one weapon spinning at Shuhei and one at Kazeshini. Kazeshini yanked the chain to pull the weapon he had thrown back towards him while throwing the one already in his hand toward Shuhei. The weapons collided in the air and all four landed harmlessly on the ground.

Seeing his chance while both were disarmed Shuhei moved toward the hollow again. The hollow jumped over his blade, landing on Shuhei's shoulder before kicking him to the ground. Shuhei began rolling before he hit the ground and was able to move to the side before the hollow could stomp on him. While the hollow was focused on Shuhei, Kazeshini used the opportunity to retrieve both of his weapons. He leaped at the hollow over Shuhei's body, kicking him in the face and back from Shuhei.

"Not bad." the hollow growled, wiping a line of blood from his mouth. Shuhei got back to his feet as the hollow retrieved his two weapons with the chain. "Hard to believe you two were fighting just minutes ago." it taunted. Kazeshini laughed in amusement.

"Don't get me wrong, he's still a dumbass and weak as hell, but he's still my master. I don't intend to die before I can take the world down with me, and he's got shit of his own to do." Kazeshini said. Shuhei nodded. They were beginning to see eye to eye on one thing, Tosen and the others would pay for what they did to Kensei and the others.

"Before thinking about far off fights you might want to focus on the one in front of you." the hollow taunted. Kazeshini rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, I tell him that too." he said. Shuhei almost groaned.

"Don't start getting along now." he ordered. All he needed now was for the two of them to team up on him. If that happened he was sure to die. It still surprised him Kazeshini would be helping him in this fight. If the hollow took over his body then he and Kazeshini could rampage to their hearts content. Shuhei and Kazeshini didn't see eye to eye and it was obvious Shuhei wasn't going to let him just go kill everything. Looking at the evidence it was clear Kazeshini should be supporting the hollow in taking over his body. There was absolutely no reason for him to be helping Shuhei.

Kazeshini and the hollow both chuckled as they read Shuhei's thoughts loud and clear. Shuhei was exactly right. If Kazeshini threw in his lot with the hollow and they just beat Shuhei up they could take over his body, trap him in his own soul, and run rampant however they wanted. Kazeshini couldn't fully explain it himself, but there was a reason he couldn't do that. It may have had to do with the face Shuhei would probably grow to see Kazeshini as a partner where the hollow would see him as only a weapon. Or it could have been Shuhei's family would be quick to kill the hollow to avenge Shuhei, meaning he would die too. Whatever the actual reason was, Kazeshini had already thrown his lot in with Shuhei, and the hollow wouldn't overlook that decision.

"Let's get this over with. All this talk is boring the hell out of me." the hollow growled. He attacked again, this time going for Shuhei. Kazeshini threw a weapon at him, forcing him to block it. Kazeshini yanked on the chain so it would wrap around the hollow's body, then he pulled it hard again to pull the hollow to the ground. As it fell Kazeshini jumped toward him, ready to bring the other weapon down and bury it into the creatures chest. Shuhei watched, stunned. The hollow kicked up as Kazeshini got close, kicking him to the side. The chain was no longer tightly wrapped around him, allowing the hollow to stand up and pull the chain off.

Shuhei moved while the hollow was distracted. The hollow blocked his first attack before kicking him in the side. Shuhei jumped back a bit, trying to think. He had an idea, something Tessai and Hachi had been teaching him. He hadn't really tried it before and hoped it would work. "You get ten seconds, figure it out." Kazeshini hissed, landing next to him. Shuhei nodded as Kazeshini leaped at the hollow again.

Shuhei closed his eyes as he tried to think of the incantation that Hachi had taught him before looking up at the hollow. Kazeshini kicked it into a tree. Now was his chance. "Bakudo number sixty-two, Hyapporankan!" Shuhei said, he clapped his hands together, pulling them apart to see a kido rod. He took aim at the hollow and threw it at him. He concentrated on his reiatsu, watching it multiply into a number of projectiles. They nailed the hollow to the tree.

"Not bad, a high level kido without an incantation. However it's not good enough." the hollow said, easily shattering one in his fist. Shuhei was stunned. "Your reiatsu isn't that strong yet kid. You need the incantation to make a high level one worth anything." it taunted him.

"No, it was good enough." Kazeshini said, spinning one of his weapons to the side. The kusarai-gama wrapped around the tree and the hollow. Due to hyapporankan the hollow couldn't flee too quickly, causing him to be tied to the tree. Shuhei used shunpo, planing the katana into the tree next to the hollows head.

"This was our win." he said. The hollow suddenly started laughing.

"I wonder, for how long? I'm not going away. You won this time, but next time you might now be so lucky." the hollow chuckled. Shuhei suddenly felt extremely lightheaded as the adrenaline wore off. He pitched backwards only to be caught by Kazeshini.

"Your such a dumbass." the zanpakuto hissed. Shuhei smiled.

"Thank you." he said. The hollow let out a short laugh.

"Sure, whatever." he said. Shuhei then closed his eyes.

xxx

Shuhei opened his eyes, expecting to see the forest with Kazeshini looking down at him. Instead he saw Kensei standing in front of him, holding Tachikaze. "Niisan..." Shuhei started as the hollow mask on his face shattered. Kensei looked surprised for a moment before giving Shuhei a huge grin.

"Good job kid." he said. Shuhei felt his eyes close again.

 **Hey guys, two chapters in the same weekend! I don't know why but I had a really rough week and when I do I get more motivated to write. Also I enjoy writing combat scenes, even if I suck at them. I have a lot more fun with them as I imagine where they can go. Anyway thanks for the support. Guest and** **Scaunders I got your reviews, even if Fanfiction ate them! Thank you very much!**


	18. Recovery

**Thank you all for the continued support as well as your review and questions Yua-hime. Right now I'm still in the first two decades of the Vizords being in human world. Yes I am planning on doing major time skips, but I have no intention of skipping over things that I think are important for any of their growth. As for Shuhei with the gigai, something I thank your for asking because I had it in my mind and completely forgot to write it. So the gigai's that hide their reiatsu, as explained by Aizen, puts a lot of tax on the soul. If Rukia's was so damaging to her after Kisuke had a 100 years to perfect it, I don't imagine the original ones being any better. That's why I always thought Hiyori and the others never aged, these gigai's that hide them put such a heavy tax on their souls that they couldn't get older physically. Because of that I didn't want Kisuke to make Shuhei one of those models. However while he didn't have any kind of gigai in the beginning he ended up getting one, but it's just an artificial body. It's not blocking any of his reishi or anything like that so he can use it without doing any damage to his body. I am planning on him looking roughly the same age by the end of the hundred years as he does in the series. I hope that answered your questions!**

Shuhei opened his eyes to see he was lying in his bed. Looking around the room he realized he wasn't alone either. Kensei was propped up against the wall. Mashiro was laying down to his left side, her head resting on the knee of his crossed legs. Lisa was leaning up against his other side, her head on his shoulder. Next to them was Shinji, using the corner to keep his body up. Hiyori was next to him, using his arm as a pillow. Hachi was using Shinji's bed, clearly worn out form maintaining the healing kido that was still surrounding Shuhei. Tessai slept in front of the bed with Kisuke and Yoruichi on either side. Rose, who seemed to be the heavily injured of the others, was sleeping in Kensei's bed with Love sleeping against it, his arms crossed over his chest. Shuhei pushed back the covers off his body as he attempted to get up. The shield didn't let him. He wasn't sure if it was because they wanted him to stay in bed until he was better or if they used it as a precaution in case he lost control again. Either one was likely, causing Shuhei to assume both had been a factor in the decision.

"Your awake." Kensei's rough voice cut over. Shuhei looked over to see that his movements had woken up the older man.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up." he said quickly, keeping his voice low. Kensei's eyes narrowed, not liking the apology. Shuhei looked around again. "What happened?" he asked. Kensei sighed.

"You passed out from what I heard. Guess the hollow saw an opportunity and tried to take over." he said. Shuhei nodded.

"Yeah, Kazeshini and I were barley able to stop him." Shuhei admitted. Kensei gave him a huge grin, one that showed pride.

"But you did stop him." he pointed out. Shuhei's face got hot as he blushed at the praise. He looked down. "You did good kid." Kensei added. Shuhei thought about the shikai that both Kazeshini and the hollow had been able to effortlessly use.

"I need to learn how to use my shikai." Shuhei said. Kensei hummed in agreement. They both knew it was Shuhei's best defense against the hollow.

"It's not a on fight and done kind of thing. The hollow may listen to you now, but it's always going to be looking for a chance to escape and take over. You need to make sure your stronger then the hollow." he said. Shuhei nodded to show he understood. Kensei sighed again, as if the entire world was on his shoulders.

"Whats wrong?" Shuhei asked. Kensei actually laughed at that. Shuhei gave him a confused look.

"The better question is what isn't wrong." he said. Shuhei tilted his head to the side, showing the answer confused him more then give him any insight into Kensei's thoughts. "There's a lot wrong kid, starting with the fact we live in a situation where we have to put a weapon in a little kids hand because his own soul isn't safe in it's own body." he said. Shuhei seemed to understand then. When he asked the question he had meant what was wrong in that moment. Kensei was frustrated with everything, the entire situation as a whole.

"I don't think it's all wrong niisan." Shuhei said. Kensei raised an eyebrow to show he wasn't following the child's logic.

"Oh? Explain." he said, a curt order. Shuhei nodded to show he was about to.

"I wish it happened some other way but I met you all. I got a family with you all now, so I'm not alone anymore. I have worth to someone." he said. Kensei looked stunned at his honest words. Then he put a small smile on his face.

"Well at least one good thing came out of that shit storm." he growled. Shuhei opened his mouth to speak again, but it seemed Kensei had enough of the heart to heart chat. "Go back to sleep." he ordered. Shuhei smiled and nodded. Kensei wasn't the best with emotions. In fact non of the vizord, as they begun to call their little family, were very good with emotions. Shuhei knew he was included in that.

"Hai, niisan." he said.*

xxx

"Good morning Shu-chan!" Mashiro sang as Shuhei opened his eyes. He looked around the room to see the others were gone. Kensei must have told them that he was fine now. Mashiro shoved a tray under his face. It had breakfast on it. "Kensei made it." she said.

"Thank you." Shuhei said, slowly taking it from her. Mashiro sat down of the edge of the bed as he began to eat.

"You don't have to watch him you know." came Shinji's amused voice from the door. Mashiro and Shuhei looked over at him. Shuhei smiled and Mashiro puffed out her cheeks in annoyance.

"Kensei said make sure he eats every bite." she said in pouting tone. Shinji shook his head as he came in as well. "You don't have to watch him either you know." Mashiro said, now taking a more mischievous look. Shinji huffed.

"I'm hardly here for that. This is my bedroom just as much as it's Shuhei's and Kensei's." Shinji said. Shuhei went back to eating, knowing if he didn't eat it all he would be getting a long lecture from Kensei about the importance of not wasting food. Besides that as a cook himself he understood how important it was not to let anything go to waste. "Maybe we should start thinking of getting our own place so everyone can have their own room." Shinji mused. Mashiro laughed, as if the idea never occurred to her and now that it was brought up it was a silly notion. Shuhei didn't want to think about them slitting up.

"Are you two bothering Shuhei when he just woke up?" Lisa asked, coming to the door. Shuhei wondered if they had each just been coming to check on him. Shinji made a dramatic sigh.

"Of course we're not bothering him. He would have said something if we were." he said. Lisa rolled her eyes before turning a smile to Shuhei.

"I got something for you." she said, pulling out a new book from behind her. Shuhei's eyes lit up. Lisa smiled, she loved seeing that look on Shuhei's face just like she loved seeing it on Nanao's. She walked forward and set it beside him, her look turning stern when he reached to grab it. "Eat first, read later." she said. Shuhei gave her a sheepish nod before turning back to his food.

"If you all keep spoiling him every time something like this happens then he might do it again." Shinji scolded, but his tone showed that he didn't really believe that.

"We're spoiling him? Who bought him some new clothes?" Lisa challenged. Shinji's expression turned defensive.

"I just wanted to help make him feel better." he huffed. Lisa sighed.

"We all do." she said. Shuhei looked back at the food. Then he smiled up at the others. He defiantly had the best family he could have asked for.

 **So normally I don't like throwing in random words in other languages in stories, but you know some words just don't translate well and some words don't always fit. Like saying 'ok' or 'yes' or 'alright' didn't exactly fit not matter how hard I tried. SO I just went what felt natural. Or that may have to do with me living in Japan for half a year now...not really sure.**


	19. Earthquake

Shuhei ducked from Hiyori's attack before swinging his zanpakuto up at her. She jumped back, trying to gain some space. Shuhei decided that he didn't want to give her that opportunity. "Reap, Kazeshini." he said. He could hear the spirit's cackling in his head as the weapon morphed into it's shikai state. Hiyori made a 'tch' sound before holding out her weapon in front of her.

"Chop cleanly Kubikiri Orochi." she ordered. Her shikai, the serrated cleaver like weapon, erupted in front of her. Shuhei spun one of the weapons at her, which she deflected to the side. He pulled on the chain, causing it to change course. He didn't pull it quite right and instead of headed for Hiyori like he intended, it headed directly at him. Shuhei used the other weapon to keep the first from hitting him. Seeing Shuhei open Hiyori shunpoed forward at the inexperienced fighter. Shuhei decided to temporally ignore his shikai as he turned back to her.

"Bakudo number sixty-two..." he started. He had actually really liked that technique, even if it wasn't very strong yet. It still served its purpose of stopping an enemy temporarily. However Hiyori, like most of the others, knew that was a favorite of Shuhei's and wasn't about to just let him do what he wanted. She swung Kubikiri Orochi at him, forcing him to stop forming the bakudo and block her attack. Shuhei planted his front foot in the ground and pivoted off of it, hoping to kick her in the side. He was amazed when the technique landed, but the amazement quickly proved to be his downfall.

Sensing Shuhei's lack of concentration Hiyori shoved him forward. His balance failed and he toppled to the ground. Hiyori planted Kubikiri Orochi in the ground next to him. Shuhei stopped breathing for an instant. He wasn't there anymore, but in the forest with Gin planing the blade next to his face that he used to slash Shuhei's face just a second before. Without thinking Shuhei formed his hollow mask, kicking out to knock Hiyori's feet out from under her.

As her back hit the ground Shuhei was rolling to his feet, standing and ready to use his shikai again. Hiyori didn't stay put like he thought she would however. She was rolling the moment she landed, forming her hollow mast as well. Shuhei's mask shattered, his few seconds already up. Hiyori charged at him, stopping just short in front of him with her zanpakuto inches above her head.

"Match over. Hiyori's win." Shinji called from the side. Shuhei sighed and collapsed on the ground while Hiyroi smiled down at him. Shuhei had come far in the last few years. His reiatsu was raising at an amazing speed and he was picking up the four disciplines rather quickly. He was still learning how to use his shikai, but he was making excellent progress.

"Whose turn is it to make lunch?" Love asked. The others looked around to see who was all missing. Kisuke was running his shop, and Tessai and Kensei were helping him today. Yoruichi had disappeared again a few years ago and hadn't shown up since, leaving Mashiro the only missing person without a reason.

"Mashiro's I guess." Rose mused. Love groaned. When it was Mashiro's turn to cook it was always more likely that she would just go out and buy something already made for them to eat. Shuhei perked up, Mashiro being in charge of cooking, rather providing food for the day, meant she would be going shopping. He quickly turned to the others.

"I'll go get her." he said quickly, shunpoing away. The others smiled, not fooled for a second. Shuhei just wanted to go look for more writing supplies. Kensei was still proofreading his notebook for him and his others were full, meaning he needed a new one unless he wanted to wait for Kensei to finish. Shuhei had started talking about wanting to publish some of his short stories, something that Kensei and Lisa not only encouraged but found pride in. It made the others always pause for a moment when they thought about the future. They didn't think too far ahead, they never talked about what they would do after defeating Aizen, mostly because they didn't know when that would be and if all of them would even survive. However they were adamant that Shuhei wouldn't get involved, and because of that Shuhei had a future.

However even then they were concerned. Aizen could make his move today, tomorrow, or even fifty years down the road. They knew that had to always be ready. They knew the risks of what they were doing, the fact that some if not all of them could die. Yet they couldn't let that happen. After all if they all died all that would be left for Shuhei was to eventually get someone's attention that he doens't want and be hunted down.

"Lisa...have you put any thought to it?" Love asked. Lisa looked over at him and nodded.

"Yeah, I've been working on it since we got here, I'm almost ready to start attaining bankai." she said. Love nodded, glancing over at Hiyori and Tessai, wondering what they're answers were.

"What? Don't look at me like that, you know damn well I'm working on it too." Hiyori spat, annoyed. Hachi meanwhile sighed.

"I don't think I will. Mashiro has already decided she's not going to try, she'd rather focus on improving her hakuda, and I'm going to work on improving my kido beyond what Aizen can." Hachi said. The others nodded, it was understandable. After all they had never once actually seen Mashiro or Hachi use their zanpakuto's.

xxxx

Mashiro was walking out of the house when Shuhei ran up behind her. "Wait for me neesan!" he called. She paused to allow him to catch up.

"What is it Shu-chan?" she asked. Shuhei panted for a moment, trying to regain his breath from the energy it took to use the shunpos.

"I want to come with you." he said. Mashiro looked surprised for a moment, then she gave him a huge smile and nodded. The two started walking together, talking about random things like Shuhei's music lessons with Rose, or his education from Lisa, Hiyori, and Kisuke. They were going threw a store when Mashiro paused. Something didn't feel right to her. Shuhei looked up at her when entire world seemed to lurch around them. Shuhei had experienced enough earthquakes to know that was what it was, but this wasn't a normal earthquake.

"SHUHEI!"

xxxx

Love dodged one of Shinji's attacks when suddenly the entire world seemed to shake around them. The effects were so violent that everyone in the underground fighting chamber were knocked off their feet. None of them knew how long it lasted, but when it ended they slowly got to their feet. They were still shaky and Love had to rub his head where he hit the ground. They knew the only reason the cavern hadn't collapsed in that was because of the kido reinforcements that Kisuke, Tessai, and Hachi had done. They all slowly looked at each other, realizing if it had affected them that much there was no telling what damage had been done to the surface.

The group rushed up to the shop as quickly as they could. They stood in the doorway, stunned. The shelves were all knocked over and the entire place looked like it had literally been turned upside down. Kisuke sat on the ground with Tessai standing over him. From the look of it he protected his long time friend from falling debre. Kensei groaned as he shoved a shelf that had fallen on him to the side.

"What the hell was that?!" Kensei groaned. If he had been a normal person he may have actually died.

"It was an earthquake...wait, where's Shuhei and Mashiro?" Lisa asked, looking around. Kisuke turned a stunned look to her, as if only realizing the implications.

"They left to get food." he said. The others looked at each other. They had to find the two of them, to make sure they were alright. The group ran outside, ready to search for the others but found themselves frozen at the door. Houses were destroyed, fires were breaking out everywhere, and people were everywhere.

"Split up and look for them." Shinji ordered. They had to find Mashiro and Shuhei. They had to make sure the two of them were safe. They all nodded. Love and Rose went one direction, Hiyori and Lisa in another, Hachi, Tessai, and Kisuke went a third and Shinji and Kensei went their own way. Kensei rushed toward the store he knew Mashiro liked, hoping they would have gone there.

"They're fine Kensei." Shinji said, hoping it was true. Since they had arrived in the human world, they each found comfort in having something. For Kensei the things that meant the most to him were Mashiro and Shuhei. Shinji knew that better then anyone. The two had to be alright, because if they weren't it would destroy not only their whole group but Kensei especially. Shinji closed his eyes and focused on finding their reiatsu. He knew the others must have been doing the same thing, or at least a few of them because all the groups seemed to be converging at one spot. Their sensors may have been diluted due to the gigais, but they weren't completely shot.

xxx

Shuhei felt like he got hit by a menos grande. For all he knew that was what happened. He opened his eyes to only see green. "Neesan?" he tried, sure it was her.

"Shuhei." Mashiro pulled back from him, having cradled him as close as she could when she shunpoed both him and her from the falling buildings. She smiled at him, trying not to let her concern show about the line of blood going down the side of the boy's head. She knew she hadn't escaped fully unscathed either. If it wasn't for her hollow instincts having given her a small heads up it would have been much worse then a few bumps and bruises.

"Neesan, your bleeding." Shuhei said, looking at her arm. Mashiro waved it off, she needed to get them back to the shop. "What about the others? Are they alright?" Shuhei asked, his reiatsu shooting up as he lost control of his emotions. Mashiro looked around, she could feel the panic in the air, the hollows closing in on the vast number of injured and dead humans. They're souls would be easy prey and she didn't want Shuhei to be on that list of humans they were going to pursue.

"Shuhei, Mashiro!" Mashiro smiled in relief as Kensei and Shinji arrived. The two looked them over before giving them relieved looks. Moments later Lisa, Hachi, Love, Rose, Hiyori, Kisuke, and Tessai arrived.

"Good, everything is alright." Love said with a heavy sigh. Rose gave him a furious look.

"Alright? Look around Love, I would say this is as far from alright as it could be!" he yelled. Love ignored him, knowing that Rose had a point, but Love's main focus wasn't the faceless nameless masses around them, but the small family they had created of their own. Kisuke looked around, surveying the damage.

"We should go home. The entire structure is reinforced with kido and it is the safest place to be if there are any aftershocks." he said. The others nodded and no one spoke on the way back.

 **I feel like the 1923 Kanto earthquake was too big of an event to pass over. Same with WW2 that I will address. I also want to go more into Shuhei's shikai training as well as Lisa and Hiyori's bankai training. Thank you for the compliment**  
 **gruntsbreeder and your input guest. Welcome to the story as well** **kasumi misuto,** **RainThePiscean,** **any and all anime, and** **julioczarate79. I'm glad you are all enjoying it.  
**


	20. Lisa's Bankai

Shuhei sat watching Lisa meditate with her zanpakuto. He didn't fully understand what was going on but lately when Lisa was meditating he had started to notice another presence with her. At first it was just a reishi cluster that he could sense. Then it started to take some sort of shape. Lately it had become a lot more solid, gaining an outline. 'You really are stupid.' Kazeshini hissed in his ear.

'Always nice to hear from you too Kazeshini.' Shuhei hissed in his mind. He and Kazeshini had a really interesting relationship ever since he started training with his shikai. Kazeshini would give him tips and help him out, but never without a smart ass comment.

'It has to do with her bankai right?' Shuhei asked. Kazeshini chuckled.

'Yeah, it does.' he confirmed. Shuhei suspected it had been her trying to materialize her zanpakuto's spirit. Lisa wasn't the only one who had been trying to achieve bankai. Hiyori had been as well. However Hiyori was much further behind and currently hadn't been able to materialize even the reishi of her zanpakuto as an external being. Shuhei was fascinated by the process and had been trying to watch it so he wouldn't miss how to do it. He intended to try and do it himself one day. 'Why don't you master our shikai first? Then you can run with idiotic ideas.' Kazeshini laughed at him.

Shuhei started to see the form behind Lisa take shape and color. The zanpakuto was a female human shaped creature with iron armor. The armor fit her like a top and plated skirt. A purple material came off of her shoulders and mid back, looking kind of like the wings of a dragonfly. She held a weapon in her hand, the same weapon Lisa used as her shikai. Shuhei leaned forward a little, wanting a better look.

'Don't get too close. That spirit is ready for a fight.' Kazeshini cautioned. He himself would love a fight, but it wasn't his place right now. Haguro Tonbo wanted to guide her wielder to bankai just as much as Lisa wanted to achieve it. Kazeshini knew he'd have many other opportunities to fight her, and when he did she would be stronger and give him more of a fight.

Lisa opened her eyes and stood up. She turned to look at the spirit and Shuhei could see the amazed look on her face turn into a look of pride and accomplishment. It was the first time she had successfully materialized her zanpakuto in the world. Shuhei knew that at that moment all those decades of hard work had paid off. He wanted to congratulate her, to tell her how amazing it was, but he didn't dare. He was worried his voice would break her concentration and ruin the moment. Yet it didn't seem like she could hold it for long and after a few seconds the being started to disappear. After a minute it was gone completely and Shuhei couldn't even sense it anymore.

"That was amazing neesan!" he said. Lisa turned to look at him, surprised as if she forgot he had been down there. He had been right not to speak earlier. She collapsed onto the ground, materializing her zanpakuto having taken all the energy she had. She did offer Shuhei a smile.

"Thank you Shuhei." she said. Shuhei ran over to her side.

"Soon you'll be able to fight her!" he said. Lisa shook her head. She still had a ways to go. She could materialize Haguro Tonbo now, but she couldn't keep her in the real world for very long. In the Soul Society it wouldn't have been so hard. She could maintain the reishi in the atmosphere to keep the spirit out longer, but in the human world where reishi was scare enough as it was, it made it extremely difficult. In a way she was grateful for that. It was going to make her that much stronger down the line.

"Let's go eat with the others." she said. She knew she had been down there for a good number of hours and assumed Shuhei had been there for all of it. It would be best for them to rest. The two headed up to see Kensei and Mashiro arguing. Lisa sensed around for the others to find only Kisuke in the shop. "Where is everyone?" she asked. Kensei and Mashiro paused, inches away from each other, to turn to the two.

"Love, Rose, Tessai, and Shinji are helping with some reconstruction today. Hachi and Hiyori went to buy groceries." Kensei said. Ever since the earthquake occurred many people had been working on rebuilding. Trying to keep a low profile and not be noticed for not contributing, the others started helping with different projects. Shuhei never got to help because despite being older then some of the people, he still looked like a kid.

"Do you need any help up here?" Shuhei offered. Kensei waved the concern aside.

"Nah, actually I have your notebook for you so you can go work on your revisions." Kensei said, handing over the book. Shuhei smiled and nodded. Lisa leaned over his shoulder.

"Oh, I haven't read this one yet." she said, smiling. Mashiro pouted.

"Why does everyone always want to read Shuhei's writing?" she asked, rather whined. Kensei rolled his eyes.

"Maybe if you ever decided to sit down and write something we'd read over it for you. Besides he takes criticism well, unlike some people." Kensei added with a pointed look at Mashiro. Shuhei chuckled.

"Here Neesan, you can read it. Rose-niisan gave me some homework practicing with a new instrument anyway." Shuhei said handing it over to her.

"Did I hear the word homework? I hope this means your going to be finishing the paper I assigned you." Kisuke called from the counter. Shuhei nearly groaned. He actually forgot about that. It was annoying to do all the extra tasks the others assigned him but at the same time it was nice. They were ensuring Shuhei got an education so that he could have a future. Unlike the others Shuhei wouldn't have to stay in hiding after Aizen and the others fell. They were planning to keep Shuhei off the battlefield, so no one would notice him, and with Aizen gone and Central 46 never having even learned the name of the child they sentenced to death, Shuhei could go back to the Rukongai, to be a Shinigami (although they didn't really support that idea) or find a career in the human world.

To be honest though, Shuhei had no intention to let them fight without him. He hadn't brought it up or made a fuss, he was going to wait until he was stronger or until it was too late for them to keep him away. If he reached their level he was sure he could make a convincing argument, especially because he was sure he could get Yoruichi and Kisuke to back him up.

"Guess you should get going then huh?" Kensei taunted. Shuhei nodded.

xxxx

Shuhei sat watching Lisa again. Over the last few weeks she had successfully been materializing her zanpakuto and lengthening the time she could keep it in the real world. Today she was actually fighting with it. Shuhei sat on the edge of a massive boulder as Lisa and Haguro Tonbo attacked and blocked each other. Lisa stopped and looked at the spirit.

"I think it's about time we begin fighting for real." Lisa said. Haguro Tonbo nodded.

"I agree. I am truly tired of staying stagnate." she said. Shuhei looked between them, waiting. Lisa moved first, using a shunpo so fast Shuhei had nearly lost all traces of her. She appeared directly in front of Haguro Tonbo. Lisa adjusted the staff of her weapon under her arm and swung it at the spirit. Haguro Tonbo jumped back to create some distance.

"She's doing exceptional." Shuhei looked up to see Rose and Love had at some point come to his side. They're sudden appearances used to bother him, and to a degree they still do because he was trying to be more alert.

"She might just win this time." Love said. Shuhei looked up.

"So all she had to do is win this fight to get bankai?" Shuhei asked. Love laughed.

"If it was that simple then a lot more people would have bankai." he said. Shuhei frowned at that, feeling like Love was teasing him for not understanding.

"It's more then just defeating the spirit Shuhei. When you train to gain a shikai you are trying to come to a mutual understanding with the weapon. It is a part of your soul, but even then you don't always have similar personalities. Your zanpakuto is a good example of that. Sometimes your zanpakuto can take a side of your soul that you yourself don't even fully know exists. The shikai is the two of you coming to terms as partners and allies. The bankai is different however. You are showing the spirit that you have the strength and fortitude to wield a stronger power. Because of this you have to defeat the spirit to show them you can handle whatever power they have. You are trying to gain their respect." Rose said. Love groaned.

"The short answer is that you need to defeat them so you can show them that you can wield their weapon as good as they can or they won't let you have it." Love said. Rose huffed.

"That's what I said." he objected. Love chuckled.

"Yeah but you took too long." he said. Shuhei turned his attention back to the fight. At some point while he looked away the zanpakuto had knocked Lisa to the ground. Lisa kicked out at the spirit and using her hands, sprung back to her feet. She thrust her weapon forward but Haguro tonbo just twirled around it before swinging the same weapon at Lisa. Lisa ducked and the weapon flew harmlessly over her head. She pulled her own back and made another thrust forward. Lisa let her weapon move toward the ground, following suit as if she was about to do a cartwheel. She used one hand to balance herself and brought a leg down on Haguro Tonbo's shoulder. As the zanpakuto moved back a step Lisa's legs landed on the ground and her upper body righted itself, bringing her weapon with her. The momentum added a lot more force as Lisa brought it down at the zanpakuto. Haguro Tonbo just managed to dodge it and the impact left a crater in the ground.

"This is incredible." Shuhei said. Lisa regarded the zanpakuto for a moment before Haguro Tonbo went on the offensive. The attack grazed Lisa's arm, causing a red line to appear where blood soon dripped out. Shuhei bit his lip.

"She'll be fine." Love said. Shuhei knew that. He had seen them all do worse to each other in training. It was more like her was rooting for her to succeed then not get hurt. Lisa dodged another attack before bringing her hand across her face, forming her hollow mask. Haguro Tonbo's form flickered and Shuhei realized that Lisa hadn't used her mask because she was afraid she would loose the ability to maintain the spirit in the real world. Lisa moved forward into a shunpo and this time Shuhei did loose all traces of her.

A loud yell reached Shuhei's ears and he suddenly saw the zanpakuto fall to the the ground. Lisa stood over the spirit, a few more cuts and bruises then before she vanished from Shuhei's senses. Lisa wavered for a moment as her mask crumbled to dust. The spirit chuckled.

"Not bad, but now that you have opened the gate can you actually be able to use it?" the spirit asked. Then it faded away. Shuhei hesitated, not knowing what to do.

"Well I'll be. Looks like we have another potential bankai user." Rose said. Shuhei recalled that someone has to train with a bankai for ten years before they could even attempt to use it in real combat and assumed that was what Rose meant. At the moment however he didn't care about that. He jumped off the rock and ran forward to Lisa's side.

 **Alright, one more with Bankai. I figured since Lisa becomes a taichou she should have a bankai! Welcome Magic29 and . Also thank you so much to Scaunders and kasumi misuto for your reviews. They always make me happy!**


	21. Updates and Seperating

**Has it really been a few months since I last updated? I'm really sorry. Things got real crazy there for a bit. Rather they still are but this is my first real day off in a while so I thought I'd come write a little. Well i'm in WW2 period now. Also welcome** **Crazy-yaoi fangirl28,** **bluedancingkittykat,** **jumjalala,** **LadyPinkyofJapan8181,** **IRunWithWolves18,** **MoonlitStarShine,** **,** **shadowchild613,** **JJWayward,** **PleiadesWolfe,** **AdriaTyler,** **Lemonkittylove,** **cof0702, and** **darkintell. Also a huge thank you to** **Ship-the-ships-I-ship,** **Scaunders, and Pleiades Wolfe for your comments. I love the visord and Shuhei a lot so I'm so glad to see a lot of people also liking them. And to answer the question, yes. I plan for Shuhei to run into the others, not just child Ichigo. The point of this chapter is to update the situation in the Seiretei and separate the groups into the two groups they have in the series.**

Yoruichi moved through the neighborhood, following the traces of reishi she was sensing. Kisuke had moved again, finding a new neighborhood to hide the fact that no one in their shop had been aging. She couldn't help but smile, sensing how strong Shuhei was getting. He was the only one she could clearly sense and it seemed he was now having to mask his reiatsu to keep from hollows and the resident shinigami from finding him. It had been a while since Yoruichi had last been in Tokyo, or even the human world for that matter. She had some interesting news for the others on what she had seen in the Soul Society.

The new home looked a lot like the old one. Kisuke had a habit of making every new home look exactly like the old one in order to allow an easier transition. She suspected part of it was for her benefit. Yoruichi went to the room Kisuke would usually use as his bedroom, and sure enough he was sitting up, as if he had been expecting her. "Welcome back Yoruichi." he said. Yoruichi sensed around.

"Where are the others?" she asked. Kisuke opened a fan and waved it in front of his face.

"Well funny story, a major war has started with the humans, so in order to keep from being pulled into it, the boys have been hiding below ground and training. Shuhei, Lisa, Mashiro, and Hiyori have been running the shop." he explained. Yoruichi nodded.

"I see. I have some news from the Soul Society." she said. Kisuke nodded, telling her to continue. "Since we left there's been a few changes. Soi Fon took over my old position and Marshino is talking about retiring. It sounds like his son Marechiyo will be taking over for him." she said. Kisuke grimaced. Soi Fon has always hated him after all and he wasn't the biggest fan of the Omaeda clan. "Chikane has been handling the third, but she has only been an interim taichou. It sounds like the day they finally decide on a replacement will be her retirement." she said. Kisuke nodded, knowing Rose would be glad to hear his former fukutaichou was doing fine. "I heard her son is now a shinigami as well. He went to the eleventh division. Aizen became the fifth's taichou and Ichimaru is the fukutaichou now." she said. Kisuke grimaced again. Shinji and the others would be furious to hear this.

"I guess that's to be expected." he said. Yoruichi nodded.

"Byakuya is getting stronger too. He'll probably be a shinigami soon. His father, the fukutaichou, passed away though. He was killed in action." she said. Kisuke sighed. It was always a shame to hear about a person who you had known passing away. "The seventh has found a new taichou. His name is Komamura Sajin. He sounds quite capable. Apparently he was in the fifth division for a time. They are still using Love's old fukutaichou, but he's also talking about retiring. Something about he doesn't have the heart to serve a different fukutaichou. His son also just became a shinigami. In Ukitake's division." she said.

"That will make Love happy." he said. At least there was a few good things to be said.

"Shunsui is doing alright and it looks like he put Nanao as his fukutaichou." Yoruichi said with a sly grin. Kisuke actually laughed at that. Lisa would be thrilled that Nanao made fukutaichou, and who better then someone like that to keep Shunsui in line. Kisuke wondered if the promotion had to do with Nanao's connection to Lisa or maybe something deeper. "Tosen has taken over the ninth division, they still don't have a fukutaichou yet either." Kisuke knew Kensei would have a fit over that. "They also replaced the tenth taichou. It's Shiba Isshin." Yoruichi said. Kisuke hummed.

"You don't say." he mused. He had never met the man himself, but he had heard many stories from Yoruichi and Kukaku. It almost reminded Kisuke of the times long ago when they were children. He and Tessai, not of nobility but curious kids just the same, had met Yoruichi by pure coincidence, sneaking into the Shihoin grounds. Instead of yelling for guards like many would expect a noble to do, she broke Kisuke's nose and sent Tessai into the dirt. The two continued to return and the three made good friends. Yoruichi eventually introduced them to her only childhood friend and companion, Kukaku. The four of them would sneak off and get into so much trouble. Kukaku told them many stories of her extravagant uncle who was similar to Shunsui in many respects.

"He also found a new fukutaichou. A young woman named Matsumoto Rangiku. She recently joined in the last forty years and has been proving to be a skilled and hard worker." Yoruichi praised.

"She probably has a nice chest too, judging from who her taichou is." Kisuke teased, only to get a punch to the face from his annoyed companion.

"Anyway, it seems the eleventh also has had a major switch. A man named Zaraki Kenpachi came into the eleventh some time ago and challenged the other taichou to a match. He won and is now the new taichou of the eleventh. He brought along his own fukutaichou as well." Yoruichi said. Kisuke raised an eyebrow at that.

"Oh?" he asked. Yoruichi smirked.

"Yes, a small pink haired girl who likes candy and toys. I had to run from her when she thought I was a stuffed cat." she said. Kisuke burst out laughing again. That was hilarious. "It's amazing though. This new Kenpachi, Zaraki, he can't use his bankai at all. He doens't even know the name of his zanpakuto." she said. Kisuke gave her a fascinated look over the top of his fan. "Mayuri took over as the new eleventh taichou. I'm sure you already saw that coming. Akon and Kuna are still there too." Yoruichi said. Kisuke actually offered a fond smile at that. Yoruichi never liked Mayuri and had no idea what Kisuke saw in having him around, but she didn't question it. Kisuke had an idea of what he was doing after all.

"Is Ukitake still trying to get Kaien to be his fukutaichou?" Kisuke asked. Kukaku wouldn't just talk about her uncle. She talked about her two brothers often as well. She looked up to Kaien and admired him. Kisuke had only met him on a handful of occasions, and like Kukaku and Yoruichi, he wasn't what one thought a noble would be. If one tried to imagine what a noble was like they would picture something like the Kuchiki's. The three most famous of the clan were pictures of grace and formality. They wouldn't think of a woman who steals her subordinates food, or a woman who would punch you in the face for looking at her wrong, or a man who would just switch between moods without a second between them.

"Yes, and he's getting married too. It's the division's fourth seat. The day he finally accepts a promotion she'll probably be made the third seat." Yoruichi chuckled. Then she looked down. "How are things here?" she asked.

"I'm glad you asked. The others are improving with their masks. Mashiro can maintain it for the longest at fifteen hours. Kensei, Shinji, Lisa, Hachi, and Hiyori are at two and a half minutes, Love and Rose at a minute an forty five seconds, and Shuhei is at a twenty seconds now. Lisa achieved her bankai and Shuhei has mastered his shikai. He is working on bankai now." he said. Yoruichi was surprised by that.

"They're letting him work on bankai?" she asked. Kisuke shook his head.

"He hasn't told anyone yet." he said. Yourichi wondered if Shuhei was trying to be more independent. "So how long are you here for this time?" Kisuke asked. Yourichi shrugged.

"Not really sure yet." she said.

xxx

Shuhei dodged another one of Kazeshini's attacks. "Is that you really got?" Kazeshini taunted. Shuhei spun one of the weapons at him then stepped in a shunpo to get on the other side. He tossed the other weapon, releasing the chain as the first weapon came to his hand. The chain had now wrapped all the way around Kazeshini's torso. Kazeshini grinned. "Not bad but what if I do this?" he asked, launching himself at Shuhei. Shuhei moved to the side but not far enough as one of the blades cut into his arm. A loud cackling to the side got both of their attention to see the hollow sitting on a tree branch, watching them with extreme joy.

"You can jump in any time you know." Kazeshini offered. Shuhei winced, not really looking forward to a two against one match. Fortunately the hollow waved the offer aside.

"Nah, I'm having fun watching him get cut to ribbons." he said. Shuhei had actually started to find ways to get along with both Kazeshini and the hollow. At Kensei's encouragement he had been spending more time with them, working on improving his relationship with them both. The hollow was also making efforts along with Kazeshini to help Shuhei achieve bankai, although Shuhei couldn't really figure out why. Truthfully he was always waiting for the day the two would gang up on him.

"Stop it with that bullshit. I told you before, I'd rather have you as a master then him." Kazeshini said, thumbing over his shoulder at the hollow. "He'd let me go kill everything that moved, but in the end we'll both meet a quick death. I have to much to do to die right now." Kazeshini said. Shuhei had almost forgotten he knew what he was thinking. "By the way, your hero's been trying to get your attention for a while now." the spirit added as an afterthought. Shuhei scowled at the two for not telling him sooner before closing his eyes, severing his connection with his inner world to return to the real world.

"About time." Kensei huffed as Shuhei opened his eyes.

"Sorry Niisan, I was training with Kazeshini." he said. Kensei nodded to show he had been listening as he walked away. Shuhei followed him up to the kitchen. Kensei handed him a list and a small change purse of money. Now that Shuhei looked a little older and had a lot more experience, they let him go on errands alone much more. None of the other men could go anymore anyway, people would start asking why they weren't drafted for the war.

"Go, and be straight back." Kensei ordered. Shuhei sighed at the reminded but took the items and went to leave. He was passing by one of the common rooms when he heard soft voices. Shuhei paused at the door, curious what was being said.

"You really think it'd be a good idea to split up?" Kisuke asked. Shuhei blinked, wondering what that could mean.

"We're too conspicuous like this. It's be best if we divide into smaller groups." Shinji's voice said. Kisuke hummed in thought and Shuhei felt his heart clench. He had overheard a few conversations like this in the past and each time they upset him. He didn't like the idea of them dividing up and going their separate ways.

"I think your right. If the resident Shinigami hadn't been switched out every year we would have been discovered long ago. It'd be easier to hide from the humans in smaller groups. But, how do you propose we do this?" he asked. Shuhei almost burst into the room but forced himself to stay.

"I think you and Tessai should stay with your shop. You two will attract less attention. We can take care of ourselves. Yoruichi isn't a problem since she goes off on her own anyway." Shinji said.

"And Shuhei? I don't think this will settle well with him. All of us as a whole have become his family." Kisuke pointed out. Shinji sighed, as if that had been a major concern on his mind.

"I know it. He'll be fine with us, and it's not like we're saying he can't come visit you from time to time." Shinji said.

"So you have already decided that he will stay with the eight of you?" Kisuke asked, sounding amused.

"Of course! With the way he idolizes Kensei and Mashiro he needs to go where they go. The rest of us care about him too, but he's the closest to them." Shinji said. Shuhei had to admit he was right there. Shuhei loved all of them so much, but Kensei was his hero. It's be horrible to be separated from any of them, but Kensei especially.

"Very well. When do you plan on telling the others?" Kisuke asked. Shuhei wondered that too. He realized the others may object and this wouldn't have to happen.

"They all already know. We've been talking about it for a while now." Shinji said. Shuhei scowled, what did he mean everyone knew?

"Is Shuhei included in everyone?" Kisuke asked, as if he could see Shuhei behind the door listening to every word.

"No, we haven't talked to him about it." Shinji said.

"You can't always leave Shuhei out of these kinds of conversations Shinji. He's not a small child anymore, and even if he was he has every right to be involved." Kisuke said.

"No one wants him to worry." Shinji protested. Shuhei knew that, but he also knew he had a right to know what is going on.

"When we first got here you said that if Shuhei wanted to help in the battle against Aizen, you'd all let him. However over the years you have all come to see him as a little brother or your own child. I no longer believe you would honor that statement. However Shuhei has his own mind and his own goals. He wants to help all of you, and I don't know if you've noticed but he's gotten stronger. He'd probably make it as a fifth seat by now, maybe even a fourth depending on who his taichou is." Kisuke said.

"I know what we said, but that was before." Shinji said.

"So you really won't let him fight when that comes around?" Kisuke asked, but it sounded more like a statement to Shuhei.

"He don't need to be involved any more then he already was." Shinji said. Shuhei glared at him through the door.

"Shinji, you need to realize this by now. Shuhei is like Nanao and Soi Fon. He may look like a child but he's a capable fighter. I'm sure you realize this by now. He's had the taichou and fukutaichou of the kido corps teaching him kido. The flash master and the former leader of the onmitsukido as well as two hakuda masters teaching him hand to hand combat and hoho. He's been learning zanjutsu from master swordsmen. Shuhei is just as involved in this as the rest of you are." Kisuke said. There was a sigh from the other side.

"We know that. We know Shuhei want's to fight and even though he thinks he's sneaky we know he's been working on his bankai. Kensei has even been debating on the idea of helping him. But Aizen will torture him just for fun. That's the kind of sick bastard he is. And Shuhei has never been in a real fight before. Not one like this." Shinji said.

"Just talk about it with the others. And Shuhei." Kisuke said. Shuhei could practically see Shinji waving off the concern in his mind. "So when do you think you'll be moving out?" he asked.

"When Lisa picks out a place." Shinji said. Shuhei decided it was time to go. He knew the others hadn't thought he was weak, that they just wanted to protect him from Aizen and the others. He was sure if this girl Nanao was around, Lisa wouldn't want her fighting this kind of fight either. But Shuhei wasn't going to back out now. He was invested too, if the scar on his face was any indication of.

Shuhei didn't care that they knew about his bankai training. That just meant he had to finish soon.


End file.
